Bitget, the cryptocurrency exchange, secured VASP regulatory licensing in Lithuania in April.
🚀 Exciting news!
Bitget obtains regulatory license in Poland 🇵🇱✅
Strengthening its presence in Europe, Bitget is now a registered virtual asset service provider (VASP) in Poland and Lithuania. 💼
Hiring spree, $80M reserve fund boost, and impressive trading volume growth…
— Walletor (@walletorapp) May 23, 2023
On May 23, Bitget announced their registration as a virtual asset service (VASP) provider was successful. This regulatory license allows companies to operate legally within the Polish market. Hence, in April, Bitget got its VASP license in Lithuania. This lets it offer services related to cryptocurrencies both in and out of the Baltic country.
Bitget’s managing director, Gracy Chen, said,
“We understand that regulation is the future of the cryptocurrency industry if mainstream adoption is to be achieved. The recent registrations in the two European countries enhance our foothold and service in Europe.”
According to its most recent quarterly report, Bitget’s staff went from 1,000 to 1,300 people during the first quarter of 2023. There are still about 300 open positions in research and development, compliance, business development, operations, and customer support.
In addition, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets went up, which helped the User Protection Fund on the exchange to gain $80 million in its book value. The book value has now reached $380 million. At the same time, Bitget’s futures trade volume increased by 27% from one quarter to the next, reaching $658 billion. At the moment, 8 million people from more than 100 countries have signed up to use the exchange.
Furthermore, the coin exchange Binance signed up as a VASP in Poland early in 2023, after the country introduced new terms and conditions for blockchain companies to keep operating. According to Maxcorp – a business advice firm:
“Traditional Polish banks do not wish to work with crypto companies, thus mostly Lithuanian based financial institutions whom are crypto-friendly can be used, further we can suggest alternative banking options in Europe (Malta, Switzerland, Cyprus etc.).”
Polish law recognizes crypto-related corporate activities as exempt from VAT. Hence, profits are taxed at the standard rate of 19%. To maintain the integrity of the exchange, VASP recipients have to carry out Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering procedures.
