Crypto custodian
As Kryptoverwahrer are considered companies which, since 1 January 2020. Germany, the crypto values store for third parties. The basis is an amendment to the first paragraph of the Banking Act . In paragraph 11 according to sentence 3, crypto values are introduced as new financial instruments and defined as follows:
"Crypto values within the meaning of this law are digital representations of a value that has not been issued or guaranteed by any central bank or public body and does not have the legal status of a currency or money, but is exchanged by natural or legal persons based on an agreement or actual practice - or means of payment is accepted or is used for investment purposes and which can be transmitted, stored and traded electronically. No crypto values within the meaning of this Act are 1. e-money within the meaning of Section 1 Paragraph 2 Clause 3 of the Payment Services Supervision Act or 2. a monetary value that meets the requirements of Section 2 Paragraph 1 Number 10 of the Payment Services Supervision Act or only for payment transactions according to Section 2 Paragraph 1 number 11 of the Payment Services Supervision Act is used. "
In its 127th session on November 14, 2019, the German Bundestag accepted the draft law introduced by the Federal Government to implement the amending directive on the Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive based on the recommendation for a resolution and the report of the Finance Committee - printed matter 19/15163, 19/15196 . The new financial service in this regard is accompanied by a license requirement from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The introduction of the licensing requirement triggered extensive discussions in the blockchain community as to whether the new regulation would harm or benefit Germany as a location, whereby ultimately the positive voices seem to predominate, provided that BaFin's supervisory practice is expedient.
Companies were able to submit a non-binding expression of interest to BaFin at the turn of the year 2019/2020 if they want to apply for a license. According to an official statement from BaFin, however, this expression of interest was non-binding and had no effect on further storage. In addition, interested companies were asked to combine the expression of interest "(...) with what they consider to be open questions of principle." Since the new law includes all those crypto custodians who actively address the German market, the law potentially affects all so-called crypto custodians and exchanges around the world - a fact that is unfortunately not always correctly presented in some specialist media and contributes to the lack of clarity on the market, as neither the law nor the instructions from BaFin are available in English (as of June 1, 2020).
Due to the fact that the shortage of time has made it virtually impossible to go through a formal permit application, grandfathering applies to all those companies that have already actively addressed the German market in 2019 with their crypto custody business services. If these companies do not want to conduct unauthorized financial business from January 1, 2020, they must
- Submit a report to BaFin by March 31, 2020 that you have already actively offered crypto custody to the German public in 2019 and then
- Submit a complete application for crypto assets by November 30, 2020. How this should look is not yet known.
If the above procedure is followed, the license for crypto custody is deemed to have been granted retrospectively and provisionally. Conversely, this also means, however, that many companies will not benefit from grandfathering - since many banks, for example, did not offer crypto custody in 2019. These companies are only allowed to start crypto custody when they have received the license from BaFin and can therefore not benefit from grandfathering.
market
The crypto custodian market is still comparatively young. Based on blockchain technology, there were initially no specialized providers for the custody of crypto values in the early years (2010). It was not until 2017 that the first crypto custodians were founded in Europe, and especially in Germany. Well-known providers from the German-speaking region are Tangany (Munich) and Finoa (Berlin).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ German Bundestag: Decision recommendation of the finance committee on the draft law of the federal government - printed matter 19/13827 - draft of a law for the implementation of the amending directive to the fourth EU money laundering directive. Accessed December 30, 2019 .
- ↑ Dr. Sven Hildebrandt: Official: The decision to store Bitcoin & Co. November 29, 2019, accessed on December 30, 2019 (German).
- ↑ BaFin: crypto custody business. December 4, 2019, accessed on December 31, 2019 (German).
- ^ Nathan DiCamillo: Crypto firms in Germany are getting ready to exist under a new regime. December 26, 2019, accessed December 31, 2019 .
- ↑ An English description of the process can be found here: Distributed Ledger Advice for the Financial Industry: New regulations in Germany require Exchanges and Custody providers to obtain a License as early as January 1st, 2020. Retrieved on December 30, 2019 .