Striga is the first VASP to be approved since Estonia enacted a new legal framework restricting service providers in the bitcoin and crypto ecosystem.

Estonia Approves First Bitcoin, Crypto Bank After New Legislation

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2022-09-22 17:00:06

Striga is the first VASP to be approved since Estonia enacted a new legal framework restricting service providers in the bitcoin and crypto ecosystem.

Striga, a bitcoin and cryptocurrency bank, became the first virtual asset service provider (VASP) to gain regulatory approval in Estonia following the country’s revamping of its digital asset legal framework, per an announcement from the Financial Intelligence Unit.

The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act, which became active earlier this March, strengthened regulations against VASPs while assuring customers and traders in the region that they would not be affected.

“This means that the legislation does not contain any measures to ban customers from owning and trading virtual assets and does not in any way require customers to share their private keys to wallets,” the Ministry of Finance said.

Essentially, the law requires VASPs to provide identities for their customers, but not private keys. If a VASP cannot provide identification, the provider is expected to “implement real-time risk analysis.”

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