Australian Cryptocurrency firm BTC Markets becomes the First Company in the country to gain a Financ

Australian Cryptocurrency firm BTC Markets becomes the First Company in the country to gain a Financ

 

Australian-based Cryptocurrency Exchange BTC Markets has become the first cryptocurrency company in the country to obtain a financial services license.

 

The license was issued by the country’s financial market regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), to BTC Markets’ sister firm BTCM Payments.

 

 

Australian Financial Services (AFS) license gives the holder to give advice, deal in and create a market for a financial product. Among other perks, it also allows the provision of custodial or depository services.

 

While cryptocurrency and Digital Asset Companies don’t require an AFS license to provide financial services due to the lack of regulation in the country, BTC Markets says that the move allows it to more closely bridge the gap between traditional finance and Cryptocurrency while offering new products to its users.

 

Also Read: SEC Launches Probe Into Insider Trading In Crypto Exchanges

 

This ends an almost two-year wait for the firm for the AFS license, which was registered in August 2020.

 

BTC Markets has certification from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for information security management and is certified by the country’s cryptocurrency industry body, Blockchain Australia.

 

BTC Markets’ CEO Caroline Bowler said that the license would prepare her exchange business for what she believes is impending regulation and complements its progress in obtaining a System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 certification.

 

Also Read: Binance Looks To Hire 2,000 Employees Amid A Slump In The Market

 

As per CoinGecko, BTC Markets has established itself as a key player in the Australian Cryptocurrency market with $4.7 million in daily volume.

 

In February, the company signed a deal with the stock market trading platform SelfWealth to offer SelfWealth customers access to trade Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Chainlink (LINK) and Uniswap (UNI) from June 30. Other exchanges have followed BTC Markets suit. Earlier in June, Australian cryptocurrency exchange Swyftx completed a $1.5 billion merger deal with online stock market investing platform Superhero.