US Crypto Exchange Coinbase Wins Regulatory Nod in Italy

Major US crypto exchange Coinbase Global has won approval from Italian regulators to continue to serve customers in Italy, it said in a blog on Monday.

Coinbase said it had met requirements from the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), which oversees financial agents and credit brokers in Italy and implements anti-money laundering controls.

Financial watchdogs across the world are grappling with how to regulate the cryptocurrency market, which remains subject to patchy rules. Consumer protection, threats to financial stability and illicit usage of digital coins are among the top issues on regulators' agendas.

Under groundbreaking new rules agreed this month by the European Union, crypto companies will need a licence and customer safeguards to issue and sell digital tokens in the bloc.

The OAM says on its website it can collect and share with anti-mafia and anti-terrorism investigators in Italy data provided by crypto firms on their clients and operations.

"We are in the process of strengthening our presence across Europe," Nana Murugesan, Coinbase's vice president for international and business development, said on the blog. "Our goal is to grow our customer base by launching the Coinbase suite of retail, institutional, and ecosystem products."

Coinbase rival Binance, the world's largest exchange, said in May it had registered with the OAM.

Meanwhile, India has called for a global support to regulate crypto. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the parliament on Monday that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) favours a ban on the cryptocurrency sector. Calling for a global support on crypto regulations, Sitharaman said the RBI is concerned that the involvement of cryptocurrencies in India's existing financial systems may have a destabilising effect on the monetary and fiscal stability of the nation.

The development comes at a time when the tax laws around virtual digital assets went live in India, slashing trade volumes on Indian exchanges. As per Sitharaman, a ban on the crypto sector is not viable if other countries do not support and execute a similar decision.

© Thomson Reuters 2022