Coinmerce, a Netherland-based cryptocurrency exchange, has announced that it has successfully registered with the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the Dutch Central Bank.
The exchange said today that the registration would enable it to service more investors in the country, thus allowing its clients to trade several cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH).
Commenting on the achievement, Nick Smits van Oyen, Coinmerce founder, said the registration is an important aspect for the firm’s future and would also give them the green light to continue their operations.
“[The registration] is confirmation for our customers that they [can] buy, sell and store their cryptocurrency on a platform which fulfills its regulatory requirements when it comes to prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism,” Oyen said.
Mitigating fraud
On May 21, 2020, Netherland established a rule that saw cryptocurrency exchanges added to the list of financial-related firms under the supervision of the DNB.
The measure was implemented to mitigate the cases of money laundering, fraud, and terrorist financing in the country.
Based on the regulation, all exchanges within Netherland were mandated to register with the country’s apex bank before November 21, 2020.
The registration process requires these firms to undergo specific procedures, as well as comply with the country’s established anti-money laundering guidelines.
Even though the move would help build public trust on registered trading platforms, the development could prompt these companies to share customers’ data, including transaction history with government officials.
With Coinmerce added to the list, five cryptocurrency exchanges have successfully obtained regulatory licenses from the DNB since the beginning of the year.
Other crypto providers that have successfully registered with the DNB include AMDAX, BLOX, Phoenix Payment, and Ventures.
Researching CBDC
The DNB said it had joined other European nations in researching about issuing a digital euro for the region. The bank said its research revolves around the objectives, framework conditions, and technical design choices for the digital Euro.
Meanwhile, France is ahead of other European nations in the CBDC race, as the country has already flagged-off its pilot project for a digital euro.
