Changes on crypto-currency market

As we have informed before – some sufficient legislative changes were introduced on the crypto-currency market. It was written and described a lot about what kind of changes they were and how they will impact market players. We will talk about the actual meaning of these changes, and what options there are for companies with virtual value license.

Historical background.

First of all we would like to point out, that from the very beginning the license was more a permission to work, than some actual license. There weren’t any special financial, legal, technical or qualification demands to comply with. You prepare the Inner regulations, appoint contact person, provide some common documents and basically you have your license.

As a result, there were over 800 (eight hundred) companies which obtained license by the December 2019. Taking into consideration the specifics of crypto-currency market – this number seemed to be too high. And the same high were all the respective risks of frauds and violations of law.

Thus, it was expected that sooner or later the Estonian government will start to act and bring the market in order and under control. And this is the main idea of legislative amendments.

We also informed before, that state agency – Moneylaundery data bureau (Bureau) – sent the official request to all the companies which held the relevant license. In this request the company was asked to fill some statistic questionary and mark if the company started to provide activities or not. And despite the fact (which was particularly stressed) that the request was made only for statistic and information purposes – the companies that provided no-activity notification lost their licenses. There were about 250 companies of such kind.

And all this together shows, that the main intention of the lawmaker was to reduce the number of companies holding virtual value licenses. Moreover –  to make the crypto-currency market available only for companies with significant resources and abilities to provide the stable activity for a long time. Let’s agree – there is a clear reasoning behind this.

Possible options.

Now let us see which options are there available in this situation.

If you are a company, which actually possesses considerable resources and which is able to bring some part of its activities to Estonia – in this case aforementioned measures do not affect you much. Of course, you will need to do some additional work, like develop some documents, rent an office in Estonia, hire board member with Estonian residency, deposit the charter capital of at least 12’000 EUR. Still, it looks like a sort of everyday activity and there is nothing much complicated to follow. Our company provides all the needed services with more than reasonable budget.

The whole other question when you do not possess necessary financial means and you are not quite able to perform a part of the business in Estonia. Basically, you are so to say the “target company”, and the amendments of legislation were made just to prevent your further business activity on the crypto-currency market. Now you have a hard choice to be made: or you go out of business and lose all the money and efforts you invested, or you try to find some reasonable solution how to stay in this industry.

Partnership 

So basically the question is how serious you are about your company and about your business in this industry. Are you ready to act in respect of staying in crypto-currency business or are you better shut this direction down and start with something else. And though the situation could seem some sort of hopeless, there is still a good news, if you decide to stay.

The good news is that there are a lot of other companies that faced the same problems and seek to solve it in some way. And some of those companies decide to stay as well. Which brings us to a logical point – you could unite your resources and abilities with other companies and create a partnership around one company. In this respect, such company will possess enough assets to comply with all amendments and proceed with business activity.

Of course, this is not an easy move and there are a lot of challenges. Creating partnership and common activity have been never a simple task. Still, there could be people from your country or even your city, so you can have some personal meetings and hold discussions on particular questions. This might rise a trust to your possible partners and you can make a grounded decision about such cooperation.

Of course, we are ready to assist on any legal question or action and provide other necessary support to make the partnership happen. With as less effort, risks and expenses for your side as possible. The business and negotiation part will be still a part of your personal business activity and responsibility.

As a conclusion.

Time is changing and we are changing jointly – says one Latin proverb. And this is what is happening right now in the crypto-currency business. This industry has become much more significant part of economics and government treats it respectively.

That is why we strongly recommend to undertake the situation seriously and restrain from any unreasonable actions. There is no meaning in following rules formally without actual compliance with legislation demands. And though now it could seem to be an additional option – there is no future in such “alternative”. It will only bring you to waste of time, energy and money.

Thus, undertaking the decision about following actions in crypto-currency business, you need to understand the reality and tendencies of the industry. And your decision should be based on that.

Crypto-currency activities will be treated more and more seriously and this is the reality to deal with.