Germany, a country known for its leading economy in Europe has recently updated its cryptocurrency laws and made it illegal for new firms to launch crypto trading, custody services and issuance of tokens. From January 1, Germany increases the costs for some crypto firms and the German Banking Act stated that crypto assets now qualify as financial instruments.
In that manner, crypto exchanges and custodians now require a license from the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). However, the cryptocurrency news reports did not note that if a company is founded in Germany after January 1, it is now illegal for them to issue tokens or offer custody/trading services.
“They have to now set up a new legal entity since January 1 has passed,” explains Philipp Sandner, who is a professor at the Frankfurt School Blockchain Center. “But this new legal entity would be illegal for custody, trading and issuing.”
The new laws show that Germany increases costs and that all companies founded after January 1 will need a BaFin license to offer these services. Meanwhile, the companies founded before January 1, 2020 will benefit from ‘grandfathering’ until November 2020.
The cost of acquiring a BaFin license could be prohibitive for new startups, both Sandner and one lawyer explained.
“For companies (be it startups or larger companies such as banks), the license induces costs of approx. USD 250,000,” they say. “Not every startup will be able to bear these costs. The small startups might be driven out of the market; the larger ones and the incumbents will probably apply for the license.”
As Germany increases costs for crypto firms, many wonder why is this the case. The truth is, the government is sought to introduce a law which might end up driving startups “out of the market” as experts noted.
Both experts noted that the government had the opposite intention in mind and wants to encourage mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, rather than leaving these sectors open for unregulated firms. However, the costs at this point are big for many crypto firms which is why the crypto climate in Germany is not that good.
Meanwhile, the latest Bitcoin price news show that the cryptocurrency has fallen by 6% due to the situation in China.
DC Forecasts is a leader in many crypto news categories, striving for the highest journalistic standards and abiding by a strict set of editorial policies. If you are interested to offer your expertise or contribute to our news website, feel free to contact us at [email protected]
Discussion about this post