Digital Bank Revolut Offers Cryptocurrencies In Europe

Revolut starts trading cryptocurrencies in Europe. (Bitcoinist)

JAKARTA – Revolut, a digital banking platform, has recently been granted permission to expand crypto trading services in the European Economic Area (EEA). The permit is granted by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC).

With this, Revolut has become the first entity to be awarded a crypto asset service provider (CASP) from the island nation's regulator. The news comes amid ongoing hiring despite the sluggish crypto market.

With authorization, the company will be able to offer crypto services to its 17 million customers in the EEA region from a newly developed hub in Cyprus. Revolut stressed that it chose Cyprus after surveying other EU countries. Notably, the country is home to popular crypto platforms such as CryptoCom, eToro, CMC marketplace, and Bitpanda.

"We welcome EU-wide regulation and wholeheartedly embrace the European Parliament's clear intention to support innovation while requiring robust customer protection measures to prevent any kind of market abuse," a Revolut spokesperson wrote in a statement.

“In establishing a hub for our crypto operations in the EU, we recognize that CYSEC has deep knowledge of crypto and its efforts to become a leader in crypto regulation,” he added.

Apart from Cyprus, Revolut also obtained crypto authorization from the Central Bank of Spain and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The UK fintech firm also plans to increase its crypto-focused staff by 20% in the UK, US and Europe over the next six months. This year alone, Revolut appointed 43 such staff members. Revolut also added 22 new crypto assets to its trading service.

Europe itself actually already has a regulation, namely Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA), which has just been agreed. But the regulation will come into effect at the end of 2023. It is part of the European Commission's digital finance strategy.

As such, MiCA aims to ensure legal certainty by establishing a sound legal framework for crypto assets within its scope which was previously not within the scope of the existing financial services law.

Supporting innovation and fair competition will also be one of its focus areas while protecting market participants from the potential risks associated with crypto assets. In addition, it will also discuss the risks associated with financial stability.