First Fully Regulated Crypto Exchange?

One of the biggest fears by crypto-related businesses is to be banned by the country where they operate. In China, different crypto-related businesses decided to find a new home after the ban last year. However, things are slowly changing for the better in today’s crypto regulations.

Regulators are slowly recognizing the possible benefits of the crypto industry. In fact, the European Parliament even released a report that it’s a bad decision to completely ban cryptocurrencies. In addition to this, there are countries that such as South Korea that softened their stance regarding their ban on ICOs. South Korea even promises to implement G20’s unified crypto regulatory approach.

And now, there will be the very first regulated cryptocurrency exchange which is now available for beta testing. Blocktrade.com has been regulated under MiFID II Framework. And it has been approved by the Financial Markets Authority which is a member of the ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority).

Blocktrade.com will be trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple. And it doesn’t stop there. Before 2018 ends, there will be additional Crypto Traded Indices, Security Tokens, and Tokenized Assets. Also, the exchange is now open for registration and is going to be fully operational in September.

According to Luka Gubo who is the CEO of Blocktrade.com, “This is an ideal way for regulators across Europe to recognize cryptocurrencies as a new asset class and put in a regulatory framework”.

One of a Kind

This exchange is needed considering the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies. With 60 trades per minute at the busiest, not to mention 170 cryptocurrency exchanges that trade over 1500 digital currencies, it is baffling to discover that none of these crypto exchanges are regulated under MiFID II.

As for institutional investors, these cryptocurrency exchanges can be considered risky. Mainly, there is no transparency present. Investors will never know if there is enough security. Gubo, who has been talking to fund managers since last year, thinks that there is already a cryptocurrency demand among institutional investors.

Regulatory clarity is seen as key towards another bullish run for cryptocurrencies. Changes in regulations can also decrease the risk presented by digital currencies to its investors. Gubo said that “If an institutional investor wants to invest in cryptocurrencies, they currently have a problem. Where do you send the order to buy? There’s a lot of speculative valuing in cryptocurrencies, so there’s currently no way to lower the volatility—proper regulation is the only way to lower that risk”.

He also believes that the more institutional investors at play, this could even lessen the volatility of the market. And when it comes to his opinion regarding Initial Coin Offerings, despite the reality that it has been under tougher scrutiny recently, he believes that ICOs will soon be traded eventually on exchanges.

Gubo mentioned that “We have the technology, but there is no regulation: investors should be able to trade inside an existing regulatory framework”.

A regulated crypto exchange platform is a good development in the world of cryptocurrencies today. In fact, it only means that we are slowly seeing the crypto market to being legitimized.