Chile'south crypto trading platform CryptoMarket has obtained a license issued by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), allowing it to provide services for the purchase and sale of crypto assets.

Founded in 2022, CryptoMarket joins a select grouping of Latin American crypto companies operating in the region, with Bitso (Mexico) and Mercury Cash (Venezuela) obtaining licenses from Gibraltar and Estonia respectively.

The exchange, which has 150,000 users and operations in Chile, Brazil, Argentina, and Europe, had to incorporate a representative in Estonia to obtain the license. It was subject to an internal audit, underwent a criminal background bank check and had to demonstrate compliance with regulations around Know Your Client (KYC) protocols and Anti Money Laundering (AML). Estonia tightened AML regulations in relation to cryptocurrency trading last year.

"Obtaining both licenses was hard and complex work for CryptoMarket, but the upshot warrants it," said Denise Valdivia, CryptoMarket's COO. CryptoMarket's website now boasts of being an "Eu regulated institution".

European crypto regulations more avant-garde

While a report late last year from the Association of Banking Supervisors of the Americas (ASBA) highlighted the interest of Chilean regulators in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the legal framework is not yet clearly divers there.

Rafael Meruane, CryptoMarket's CEO and co-founder, praised European regulation every bit innovative and superior at this stage:

"Our vision of connecting more than people to a new fiscal system needs innovative regulatory frameworks that enhance the cosmos of more competitive financial services, while at the aforementioned time granting the highest security standards for users and in that context. Regulation in Europe is significantly more than avant-garde than in our region."