Obtaining a cryptocurrency license

Licenses in the field of cryptocurrencies, can be divided into two types:

Specialized crypto-licenses, which are developed and put into effect by competent government authorities to regulate certain types of cryptocurrency transactions (for example, licenses in El Salvador or based on the MiCA act in the EU), often these are the so-called VASP licenses, from Virtual Asset Service Provider;

Traditional licenses that regulate the implementation of certain financial transactions with fiat money or other assets, and which indirectly include cryptocurrency transactions (for example, MTL licenses in the USA or Money Service Business in Canada, which, although not intended as cryptocurrency licenses, are today an integral part of the process of registering activities in these countries);

Separately, it should be said that even in countries where any cryptocurrency activity is not licensed, the company may be required to confirm the legality of its activities.
Such confirmation can be a Legal Opinion - a document issued by a licensed lawyer containing an answer to the question of compliance or non-compliance with the applicable law of certain company operations. Such a document, although not a license, serves as a guarantee of legality for counter-parties and helps to solve, among other things, marketing tasks.

Terms, cost and other conditions for obtaining a cryptocurrency license depend on both the type of license and the types of activities that are planned to be carried out, and on the country in whose jurisdiction it is planned to conduct business. Crypto-licenses are issued on a territorial basis - there are no licenses and regulations that allow doing business "all over the world". There are certain common points and trends, for example, those based on the norms of international conventions or other supranational bodies - such as the EU law MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets), which all legislation of EU member states must comply with.

• AML/KYC compliance
  Combating money laundering is a critical requirement for any business in the financial sector, including cryptocurrency businesses. The development of appropriate policies, identification and verification of counter-parties, and hiring qualified MLRO officers - without all this, the process of obtaining a license is unthinkable.
• Substance
  To combat shell companies, shells and one-day companies, most countries require confirmation that the license applicant actually exists and is physically located in the country of operation, has a staff of specialists, the appropriate technical capacity and has sufficient funds to conduct the business it declares.
• Fit&Proper
  Of course, any regulator issuing licenses will want to make sure that the future participant in the regulated market, as well as its key personnel, management and founders, have sufficient experience, education and reputation, have not been noticed in dishonesty, have not fallen under sanctions, criminal cases and bankruptcies.
  Naturally, this list of requirements is not complete, very approximate and indicative.

In general, the process of obtaining a crypto-license is close to any other licensing of activities, so the key point that allows you to avoid mistakes, and as a result - unforeseen expenses and refusals to issue the coveted document, is strict adherence to the formal procedure.