Austria | Crypto

The Austrian Financial Market Authority has frozen new business at KuCoin EU months after granting the exchange a MiCA license, citing gaps in key AML and sanctions roles. Austria’s financial regulator has prohibited KuCoin EU Exchange from conducting new business, citing breaches of internal organizational requirements around Anti-Money Laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF) and the observance of financial sanctions. The Thursday decision by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) means KuCoin’s Vienna-based entity cannot onboard new customers or conclude new contracts or products within existing relationships until key compliance functions are “appropriately filled.” Sabina Liu, managing director at KuCoin EU, told Cointelegraph that two compliance professionals holding designated AML and sanctions oversight functions in Austria had “recently departed,” and that such mobility was common in “any regulated industry.” Read more

Licensed by Austria’s Financial Market Authority, KuCoin EU can operate across 29 EEA countries, excluding Malta. Major cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin is the latest company to secure a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework. KuCoin’s European arm, KuCoin EU, secured a MiCA license from the Financial Market Authority of Austria, the company said in a statement shared with Cointelegraph on Friday. The authorization allows KuCoin EU to offer crypto asset services across 29 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA), excluding Malta, according to the exchange’s representatives. Read more

KuCoin EU obtained a Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation license in Austria, allowing it to offer regulated services across the EEA.

Bybit has received regulatory approval under the EU's MiCA framework and has opened its European headquarters in Vienna. Bybit has obtained a Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) license from Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA), allowing the exchange to expand into the European market. The approval allows Bybit EU, registered under commercial number 636180i, to operate as a regulated crypto asset service provider (CASP) and extend its services across all 29 European Economic Area member states. As part of its expansion, Bybit has officially established its European headquarters in Vienna, Austria, according to a May 29 news release shared with Cointelegraph. Read more