The Bank of Spain has added 17 virtual asset service providers into its mandatory registry for crypto exchange and custody providers, according to Spanish law. The notable thing about the latest additions is that they do not include the big names in the crypto ecosystem.
Bank of Spain Registry for Cryptos Now Has 17 Companies
The registry of virtual asset service providers (VASPs) of the Bank of Spain has continued to grow and reached 17 companies with the addition of three more businesses. In June, the registry added a number of exchanges and custody firms, including Bitpanda, Vottun, Criptan Trade, Eurocoin Broker, Lemacoin Crypto Solutions, Jobchain Austria, and Jobchain Espana.
The registry accelerated the registration of new companies in June; with some of the crypto exchanges registering to be compliant with the Spanish laws. Since the Bank of Spain opened the registry in 2021, only a few companies have joined by the start of 2022. Bit2m was approved in February this year. Other companies on the registry include Trade Republic, BTC Direct Europe, and Bit Base.
The registry is mandatory for any crypto company that targets to operate in the country, and it is mainly targeted at helping address money laundering and terrorism financing.
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Big Names Still Missing in the Registry
Despite the registry’s success in attracting local companies and ensuring the implementation of key tools to counter money laundering is effective, bigger companies have not shown significant interest. Names such as Binance and Coinbase are yet to get their way into the list.
In particular, Binance has been named negatively by the Bank of Spain for operating in the country without the required authorization. It was reprimanded by the CMNV, the country’s securities watchdog, forcing it to stop offering crypto-related derivatives to Spanish users on its platform.
Reports indicate that Binance is working with the country’s officials to get included in the list.
