Despite the turbulence that broke out in the crypto market this summer, there is an important long-term marker that should be considered in any complex assessment — the combination of adoption and regulation. The latest report by EUBlockchain Observatory, named “EU Blockchain Ecosystem Developments,” tries to measure this combination within the European Union, combining the data on each and every member country from Portugal to Slovakia. As the original report counts more than 200 pages, Cointelegraph prepared a summary with the intent to capture the most vital information about the state of crypto and blockchain in Europe. Cointelegraph started from …

In its efforts to fight money laundering risks and the possible schemes of Russian elites circumventing financial sanctions, the 2.8-million nation of Lithuania is planning to tighten its scrutiny over crypto. As the local Ministry of Finance announced on Wednesday, various ministries of the Lithuanian government approved legal amendments to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism in the crypto sector. The amendments to the current law — should they later be approved by the Seimas, Lithuania’s legislature — would stiffen the guidelines for user identification and prohibit anonymous accounts. The new regulations would also tighten up demands …

Beginning in February, Estonia is set to introduce sweeping changes to its definition of Virtual Asset Service Providers, or VASPs, to include several cryptocurrency-related services — a move that could impact Bitcoin (BTC) ownership in the country — according to European compliance specialist Sumsub. On Sept. 21, the Estonian Ministry of Finance published a draft bill to update the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act (the AML Act) as part of the government's effort to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. As Sumsub reported, the legislation is now in the interagency review process, with implementation set for February 2022. …

Financial regulators in the Baltic country of Estonia want to revoke all crypto exchange licenses in an effort to start the entire regulatory regime anew. Matis Mäeker, head of the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), has urged the state to “turn the regulation to zero and start licensing all over again,” local state-run news agency Eesti Ekspress reported on Wednesday. Mäeker claimed that the public is unaware of the risks of the cryptocurrency industry. Formerly the head of the Anti-Money Laundering department at the Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority, the official pointed out a number of related concerns, including illegal …

Estonian technology conglomerate Burfa is turning to Bitmain to supply key cryptocurrency mining infrastructure to its Narva-based data center, offering a glimpse into the arms race underway for high-performance computing resources. The $26-million agreement will allow Burfa to double its data center capacity and secure a steady supply of processing equipment over the coming months. The industrial sector is facing an acute shortage of specialized GPUs and SSDs as more of these resources get gobbled up by crypto-intensive firms that have ramped up Bitcoin (BTC) mining during the bull market. Burfa will start receiving the new equipment as early as …

Estonia’s finance ministry is reportedly looking to enact stricter crypto licensing regulations. This comes after the authorities revoked the licenses of about two-thirds of the cryptocurrency businesses operating in the country back in 2020. According to ERR News, the Estonian Ministry of Finance issued draft legislation back in January to tighten the noose on the country’s crypto industry. As part of the proposed rule changes, the Finantsinspektsioon — Estonia’s Financial Supervisory Authority — will oversee the regulation of cryptocurrency businesses instead of the Financial Intelligence Unit. This change will bring crypto oversight under the purview of financial regulators as against …

At first glance, Know Your Customer checks and Anti-Money Laundering measures can seem incredibly cumbersome for crypto enthusiasts. But look deeper, and the importance of such regulations becomes incredibly clear. EXMO, a crypto exchange based in the United Kingdom, says consumers aren’t often aware of what goes on behind the scenes at a trading platform — and argues that it’s in a trader’s best interests to select a company that follows rules to the letter. The company pointed to how 70% of virtual currency companies in Estonia, long seen as one of the most crypto-friendly countries in the European Union, …

One of the countries lauded as being among the most crypto friendly in the European Union revoked the licenses of more than 1,000 crypto firms in 2020. According to news outlet Postimees, Estonia’s Financial Intelligence Unit, or FIU, has revoked the licenses of roughly 70% of virtual currency companies operating in the country this year. Veiko Tali, the Deputy Secretary General of the Government Committee for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, said the remaining crypto firms also required “close attention” given the potential risks: "We need to monitor the development of new technologies and manage the associated …

Estonia-based cryptocurrency exchange BitBay went offline for almost two hours on Monday without explanation. According to a tweet posted by BitBay on Oct. 12, the exchange went down at approximately 4:28 PM (UTC) today before resuming trading at 6:10 PM. BitBay posted an update before it had resolved the unnamed issue, announcing its plan to launch the platform with “the blocked possibility of transaction processing.” Users had 30 minutes to cancel offers posted on the exchange shortly before it went offline. This incident is BitBay’s second unscheduled outage in 2020. In March, users were unable to trade for more than …

The Estonian central bank, Eesti Pank, announced the launch of a research program to study how to build a digital currency infrastructure. According to a statement, Eesti Pank partnered with technology companies SW7 Group and Guardtime for the research project. It aims to see if a keyless signature infrastructure (KSI) blockchain solution can run its virtual currency program. Estonia already uses KSI blockchain technology for its e-government services. The bank’s project will also look into new payment solutions “that can be made possible by using electronic IDs and other Estonian e-government solutions.” The project, however, will not specify which technologies …

The e-residency program of Estonia is now under the local regulator’s radar as foreigners registered as e-residents of the Baltic nation are being linked to cryptocurrency frauds. The local police’s Financial Intelligence Unit has discovered that overseas companies owned by e-residents of Estonia have been involved in multiple large-scale exit scams. Regulators also suspect that Estonian firms and e-residents were involved in organizing initial coin offering scams, according to the police report cited by Bloomberg. This comes only three months after the crypto-friendly nation became the epicenter of a $220 billion money laundering scandal. Estonian regulators immediately revoked the licenses …

Recently, there have been discussions regarding Estonia’s new law on cryptocurrency, the revocation of 500 crypto licenses in Estonia, and companies exiting from Estonian regulatory jurisdiction. Let’s focus on three major recommendations. Do your research before engaging with a legal partner in Estonia Yes, it might sound odd, but I think one of the reasons why companies have been losing their crypto licenses is some consulting companies. I won’t mention specific firms, but I am aware that some consulting companies conduct very aggressive marketing, spamming their adverts for a single reason — to sell a “ready company” with licenses and, …