Chilean cryptocurrency exchange CryptoMarket has secured a license from the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), meaning it can now legally provide crypto trading services.

To obtain the license the exchange, which has around 150K users across Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Europe, had to pass an internal audit, criminal background checks and prove compliance with Estonia’s recently strengthened Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

CryptoMarket, which was founded in 2016, is not the first Latin American crypto business to look to Europe for licenses. Mexico-based Bitso has been licensed in Gibraltar, and Venezuela-based Mercury Cash in Estonia. This is partly because, despite widespread cryptocurrency use across South and Central America, the countries in the region lack a clearly defined legal regulatory framework.

AYO.NEWS says:

Jurisdictions like Estonia, Gibraltar, and of course ‘Blockchain Island’ aka Malta, are currently benefiting from being ahead of the curve when it comes to crypto regulation. However, as we’ve pointed out many times over the last year, they shouldn’t get complacent.

It’s clear the only inherent advantage of tiny countries and jurisdictions is that they have much smaller governments and regulatory sectors, so can make changes significantly faster than larger countries. To keep the lead they will need to ensure they can also provide world-class infrastructure, and continue to evolve.  

AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.

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