Portugal’s Central Bank Issues Crypto-Related Licenses to Two Exchanges

Portugal’s central bank, Banco de Portugal, has issued the first two crypto-related licenses for crypto exchanges after the new law was enacted. According to the official publication, Criptoloja and Mind The Coin will be able to run operations within the country, now having legal permissions to accept Portuguese customers.

“Banco de Portugal’s supervision regarding virtual assets service providers, as determined by Law No 83/2017 of 18 August 2017, is limited to AML/CFT purposes and does not extend to other areas of a prudential, market conduct or any other nature,” the central bank clarified about its legal coverage regarding virtual currencies.

The existing law allows any authorized or licensed crypto company to carry exchange services between cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies, transfer services of virtual assets, “safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments that enable the control, ownership, storage or transfer of such assets, including private encrypted keys,” Banco de Portugal clarified.

Procedures to Obtain a License

For companies to apply for a license in Portugal, the law requires them to fill three forms according to the Banco de Portugal’s guidelines that can be found on its official website. “Article 112-A of Law No 83/2017 and Notice of the Banco de Portugal No 3/2021of 23 April 2021 (‘Notice No 3/2021’) regulate the registration process with the Banco de Portugal of entities that intend to carry out, within Portuguese territory, activities with virtual assets subject to registration, as well as subsequent changes to the elements to be registered,” the central bank clarified.

In March, Finance Magnates reported that the judicial police of Portugal have taken an interest in the internet influencers after thousands of Portuguese signed an online petition and analyzed the content of the YouTubers among influencers on other social media platforms for finding illegal activities related to cryptocurrencies. The authorities were particularly looking into the indirect crypto scams as many influencers promote fake giveaways.