on the crypto
Receiving the regulator's approval to operate in Gibraltar is far from easy, the ZUBR cryptocurrency exchange told the media.
The adjustment of the exchange requirements was gradual
ZUBR, which started trading in March, said Wednesday it had received broad approval from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) as a provider of distributed accounting technology (DLT).
Approval has been granted provided that the exchange responds to some of the regulator's feedback at the time it obtains its license. But getting to this point has proved difficult. "From day one we realized 100% ... that we would have to sacrifice a lot to get into the regulated space," said co-founder Oleg Ravnushkin.
Even before the regulator provided feedback, ZUBR had set its maximum leverage to 20x and introduced high access requirements to ensure that it would only acquire professional customers, not retail.
A difficult and coveted license by many
The GFSC has been offering DLT licenses since the beginning of 2018. Its license is based on nine very general principles - including a clause that an applicant "must conduct its business honestly and with integrity" - and provides a flexible regulatory framework for any business. which falls within the DLT scope, for example to transmit or store value on behalf of third parties.
About a dozen companies have a Gibraltar DLT license, including the blockchain branch of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange. Ravnushkin said that probably 12 other entities are following the application process together with them.
Nine principles may seem overly simplistic, but ZUBR disagrees. “It took a preliminary question to move on to a complete application phase; and then move on to a series of interviews with the heads of the [GFSC] commission, [then] a series of presentations of our business model and a series of follow-up discussion cycles and additional requests made by the regulatory authority for clarify very specific issues, ”said Olga Okuneva, Chief Legal Officer of ZUBR.
How much does it cost to get a license in Gibraltar?
"Getting a Gibraltar license is not that simple ... [It is not enough just to go through Gibraltar," said Ravnushkin. Neither he nor Okuneva described regulatory feedback as a "change", but "more like a fine-tuning of something that we discussed thoroughly with the regulator," said Okuneva.
Ravnishkin said this could include relocating multiple staff members to Gibraltar, but added: "I obviously cannot comment on the exact nature of this." Ravnishkin confirmed that none of the changes will affect the main business model.
This is probably a relief. ZUBR has invested £ 30.000 ($ 37.000) only for the category three license application fee, which covers companies that manage complex businesses, including crypto derivatives. After presenting the license for the first time over 12 months ago, Ravnushkin believes that ZUBR will still have to wait a few months before receiving the full license. "
