39 companies have asked to offer crypto services under the new regulation, the Dutch central bank says

Thirty-nine companies have applied for registration with the Dutch central bank to provide cryptocurrency services, the regulator told news.Bitcoin.com. They include cryptocurrency exchanges and custodial wallet providers.

The Dutch central bank begins to register cryptographic service providers

De Nederlandsche Bank NV (DNB), the Dutch central bank, has begun to actively register companies to provide cryptocurrency services.

Following the implementation of the EU’s Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (5AMLD), providers of exchange services between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies and custodian wallet providers must apply for registration with the central bank. They must demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act and the 1977 Sanctions Act.

The implementation of 5AMLD went into effect on May 21 in the Netherlands. Since then, cryptocurrency service providers can only carry out their businesses if they are included in the public registry of the central bank.

A spokesperson for the Dutch central bank told news.Bitcoin.com:

We have received 39 applications so far.

According to the public register on the central bank’s website, four companies have been granted registration to offer cryptographic services. They are 2525 Ventures based in Rotterdam, Amdax based in Amsterdam, Blox based in Nijmegen and Phoenix Payments based in Veghel.

2525 Ventures also operates under the trade names Litepay, Lightpaid, Lightbit, Litewallet, Litedeal and Litebit. Phoenix Payments also operates as Anycoin Direct.

“It was with great pride that we received the good news that we were one of the first parties to successfully complete the registration process,” commented Bram Ceelen CFO of Anycoin Direct, elaborating:

It was a difficult challenge to face this process. We have made significant changes to our ordering process to meet registration requirements.

Companies that were already providing cryptocurrency services before May 21 and who applied for registration before that date can continue to carry out crypto activities during the registration process.

The central bank “only monitors compliance with the Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism (Prevention) Act and the 1977 Sanctions Act,” he explained. “Registered companies are not subject to the prudential supervision of the DNB or the conduct of the AFM [Authority for the Financial Markets]. This means that the risks of financial activity are not monitored and there is no specific financial protection for consumers “.

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