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Where can I buy a ready-made company with an Estonian crypto license?
- Thread starter AndersonSilva
- Start date
It would be much cheaper to simply get an E-residency, incorporate a company and get a license.
Keep in mind that from the 10th of March, there is a 3k EUR capital requirement and you have to hire a resident director.
First question to ask yourself is: Why are you buying?
Do you want to buy someone's technology? Best to approach them directly or try to figure out who their legal/financial advisers are, or work with an M&A firm.
Do you want to save time? I would consider obtaining a new license before buying one in that case. If you buy a licensed operation, you're going to have to go through the exact same vetting process as if you were a new applicant. This process usually takes a couple of weeks, sometimes months, depending on how complex the structure is.
The only time you can expect to save is you get to (hopefully) keep the existing employees rather than having to hire a whole new team.
Do you want to buy someone's technology? Best to approach them directly or try to figure out who their legal/financial advisers are, or work with an M&A firm.
Do you want to save time? I would consider obtaining a new license before buying one in that case. If you buy a licensed operation, you're going to have to go through the exact same vetting process as if you were a new applicant. This process usually takes a couple of weeks, sometimes months, depending on how complex the structure is.
The only time you can expect to save is you get to (hopefully) keep the existing employees rather than having to hire a whole new team.
Can you just chill for two seconds about Lithuania? You're not contributing at all to this thread. The topic is about obtaining an Estonian crypto license, not about Lithuania's lack of such legislation. Having a license is an advantage in many cases, which you would know if you'd look further than Lithuania and Pervesk once in a while.
There are many consulting companies that offer ready-made Estonian companies with crypto licenses (wallet and exchange). But, please note that requirements are stricter now than it used to be. Now, you need a real local presence (not just an address), and capital requirements have increased. So, prices have increased as well. Still, the Estonian licenses are still among the most inexpensive ones compared to value.
Do you need a license? Of course not. In most cases you will be able to set up a crypto exchange in some remote country where no one asks any questions at all. In fact, this is nomally how it is done. I have done this for clients many times, and if you do not have a s**t load of money you want to get rid of it is an advisable way to start. When you have a going business you open a company in say Estonia, Malta, Gibraltar, or some other country, and apply for a license. Then you move your business there. Why? Because having a license makes everything that has to do with money (banking) a lot easier, and at the end of the day that really matters.
Man, chill out yourself too. I am only trying to help and raising questions for the OP, this doesn't concern you at all.
I don't want to presume to speak for OP but when someone asks a very specific question like this, a contribution like yours just comes across as irrelevant and pushing an agenda. Estonia is one of very few jurisdictions that offer any kind of meaningful regulation of crypto businesses today. OP is seemingly looking for something very specific, which Lithuania and hundreds of jurisdictions do not offer today.
I'm sure we are all eager to hear your personal experiences with crypto licensing in Estonia, though. Maybe some project you worked on recently? Or some connections that have gone through the process of obtaining Estonian crypto license before or after the recent changes?
And this is just your opinion which doesn't reflect the actual thread at all. I thought you have a lot of experience working on people's requests. Based on my experience, I get a lot of one-line emails like "I want to form a BVI company", or "I work with FX and I need an account", which is why it is natural for me to raise additional questions. The same applies to this thread - maybe the OP doesn't know enough about the whole picture, maybe the license for him isn't required at all.
And here comes Sols, who knows exactly what the OP needs.
If you don't like what I write, just skip my post's man. Save your energy. I will repeat, this doesn't concern you at all.
I think that's a valid concern to have, in which case a better question to ask perhaps would be "Why do you need an Estonian crypto license?" not "Why Estonia? There are no crypto-related license requirements in Lithuania". It doesn't come across as a genuine concern for OP's reason for selecting Estonia and a cryptolicense there. You're steering the topic to a specific destination, which offers no meaningful unique differentiators for the subject at hand.
No, but here comes Sols who has gone through crypto licensing in Estonia and other financial service licensing in other jurisdictions, and who is happy to share little insights here and there.
I also thought I made it sufficiently clear that I do not speak for OP when I wrote: I don't want to presume to speak for OP. These are just my opinions, as you have rightly identified.
Could you perhaps elaborate what the costs of a fresh Estonian Crypto Firm with license may be and which way you would recommend to realize it?
I've been looking for Gibraltar originally but since a week I really get a good vibe from Estonia, not such a junk yard like Lithuania at least.
For Estonia, you have to be a resident for anything crypto related. Check out the recent changes in the law.
You should expect pay Euro 10,000 -15,000. I see that prices vary, and you might be able to get it even a bit cheaper. The state fee is Euro 3,000 and then you need to get all the work done. So, you cannot expect something lower than around Euro 8,000. Ready made companies should be around Euro 20,000.
Estonia has issued a little less than 4,000 licenses, so you are not alone.
The problem with the Estonian license is that you will probably not get an Estonian or European bank account. This is due to two things:
1) All realted to cryptos are precived as high risk. So, banks do not want to touch it. This is unless you have a licensed business with exellent reputation. The Estonian license is "too weak" for banks, maybe with the exception of Estonian banks - normally.
2) Estonian banks are super strict at the moment. Google "Danske Bank" and "Swedbank" together with "Estonia" and you will get the picture.
You will be able to get an EMI account in Europe, but fees will be high.
Yes and no. The requirements for a crypto license has changed with effect from 20. March 2020 for new licenses. A company now needs to have a permanent establishment in Estonia and at least one of the directors (management board members) needs to be resident in Estonia.
Gibraltar is a better jurisdiction for crypto exchanges. The license is a bit more expensive. Governement fees will vary but expect to pay £ 30,000. In addition, you will need to get the work done. The requirements to get the license is on pair with financial licenses. So, definitely a bit tougher. The company needs to have a permanent establishment in Gibraltar and at lest some of the top management will need to reside there. The advantage is that you will easily get a bank account in a proper bank.
The Gibraltar license is a general license, so it can be used for more or less anything crypto related. But, if you are not opening an exchange it will probably be to expensive. Gibraltar has issued 10-15 licenses so far.
Other options in Europe includes Malta and Switzerland. Malta is often viewed as an altarnative to Estonia, but the reality is that they have not issued any licenses yet. The rrequiremets are just too tough and the prices are too high. There are around 8-10 applications pending.
Not bad @Perry8 you seem to know what you are talking about and may have some sort of experience in this field. Do you know any firm in Gibraltar that is able to help with the license there to operate an crypto exchange?
Correct guess, prices are now in that region.
There are still some good options available for "normal bank account" through proper introduction channels, however, they are only "valid" for B2B crypto purchase/sale transactions with commitment to a certain monthly turnover.
Otherwise, EMIs like Pervesk or similar may be the single "go-to" point.
In addition to that, a paid up share capital should be at least 12,000 EUR - though it could be withdrawn later (classic scheme, heh). Board member appointment and permanent establishment is quite easy part
I would personally prefer Switzerland over Malta. There are good chances of getting broad SRO permit from VQF or ARIF, and Malta won't probably issue a single "blockchain" license after departure of corrupted PM Muscat.
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