Coinbase Wins Regulatory Approval in Italy

• Coinbase has received approval from Italian authorities to continue operations.
• The exchange has been keen on meeting regulatory requirements in different jurisdictions.
• Other exchanges are also focused on meeting the requirements of lawmakers to avoid losing out on lucrative markets.

Coinbase has won a battle in its bid to go global, having received approval from Italian regulators to continue operating in the country. The San Francisco-based exchange published a blog post on July 18 explaining that it had met the regulatory requirements and that it would bring new products and features.

Italy’s Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM) approved the operation of the exchange, which has been working on meeting compliance requirements wherever necessary. Nana Murugesan, Vice President, International and Business Development, said of the development,

“Gaining this regulatory approval is a testament to our close collaboration and positive working relationship with the Italian financial regulators. As we continue to grow across Europe and other regions, maintaining our strong regulatory relationships will ensure that we will continue to bring to market the products that our customers want, through the most trusted and secure platform in the cryptoeconomy.”

Coinbase may have achieved a victory here, but it’s not all smooth sailing for the exchange in 2022. The crypto winter has resulted in a hiring freeze and layoffs, and some executives have also dumped their COIN stock. The exchange is also bidding goodbye to the pro version of its platform, which will be discontinued by the end of the year.

Coinbase and Others Not Taking Regulation Lightly

Coinbase has become keen on meeting compliance standards and is working closely with authorities to ensure that there are no hiccups. It has doubled down on this effort in the past 18 months, as lawmakers have become more focused on imposing controls over the crypto market.

However, on some occasions, the bid to appease regulators has led to criticism from the crypto community. For example, Coinbase has asked Dutch users to provide personal information such as addresses in accordance with a request put forward by the country’s authorities. It has also sold transaction tracing software to U.S. governmental agencies, though the information itself is publicly available.

Coinbase and other exchanges are keen on winning regulators and lawmakers over in order to continue operating. The race to become the dominant global crypto exchange is on, and whoever meets regulators’ approval will have a distinct upper hand.

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