Revolut chooses Cyprus as crypto hub

4364 views
1 min read

The Securities and Exchange Commission has authorised digital banking platform Revolut to offer cryptocurrency services across the European Economic Area (EEA) from its Cyprus hub.

The EEA includes the 27 countries that are in the European Union, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

Revolut, valued at $33 bln, became the first entity to receive approval as a crypto-asset service provider from the Cyprus regulator, according to a company announcement.

The authorisation will enable Revolut to offer crypto services to its 17 million customers in the EEA from a new crypto-asset hub in Cyprus.

Revolut attributed its latest move to CySec’s sophistication and the island’s robust regulatory regime.

The firm said that it chose Cyprus after surveying other EU countries.

Cyprus is home to popular crypto platforms such as CryptoCom, eToro, CMC markets, and Bitpanda.

Crypto firms are attempting to establish regulated entities in EU countries to ensure they can offer services across the economic bloc, ahead of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA.

MiCA is designed to provide great consumer protection and stamp out scams, money laundering and other financial crime in the crypto industry.

In addition to Cyprus, Revolut also acquired crypto authorisation from the Spanish Central Bank and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

The firm has about 20 million customers worldwide and now offers exposure to around 80 crypto assets after it added 20 new ones at the start of this month, including APE, AVAX and SAND.

The British fintech company has also confirmed that it will continue to serve British customers from its UK-based entity.

Its registration application with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) remains unresolved, with the firm able to offer crypto services there via the FCA’s Temporary Registration Regime.

Revolut migrated from the UK to Lithuania in 2020, transferring all its EU customers there following Brexit.