Hong Kong-Based HashKey Obtains VASP Licence in Ireland to Comply With EU's AMLD5

HashKey's European subsidiary has gained a licence to comply with the EU's anti-money laundering rules.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 7 January 2025 20:08 IST

Hong Kong-Based HashKey Obtains VASP Licence in Ireland to Comply With EU's AMLD5

Photo Credit: Pixabay/ Sergei Tokmakov

HashKey Group said gaining a VASP licence is a crucial step in its expansion plans

Highlights

HashKey has obtained a VASP licence from the Central Bank of Ireland
This is HashKey’s first EU AMLD5-compliant licence
EU’s MiCA laws went into effect last December

HashKey Europe, the subsidiary of Hong Kong-based HaskhKey crypto exchange, has secured an operational licence in Ireland. The Central Bank of Ireland has granted a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence to the exchange, which grants the firm permission to offer a variety of crypto-related services in the country. Ireland is one of many EU countries that have begun to attract crypto firms after the region adopted a comprehensive set of regulations to oversee the sector.

The firm said in an announcement that the newly acquired VASP licence is its first registration that is fully compliant with the EU's anti-money laundering guidelines.

The group also said in a post on X (formerly Twiter) that this development is an important step in its global expansion plans.

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:globe_with_meridians:HashKey Further Expands Our Global Footprint!

:partying_face:We're excited to announce that @HashKeyGroup has obtained VASP registration approval from the Central Bank of Ireland, underscoring our commitment to building a global #Web3 ecosystem within a highly compliant regulatory… pic.twitter.com/HL83CWAWPv
— HashKey Group (@HashKeyGroup) January 7, 2025

Having secured this licence, the exchange will now be able to offer services like fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto exchanges. Custodial wallets are another service that the exchange can now offer in Ireland.

Transactions facilitated through cryptocurrencies are largely untraceable and can hence be exploited to process illegal transactions. This licence from Ireland's central bank now brings HashKey under its supervision for activities identified to be linked to money laundering and terror financing.

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“HashKey Group remains dedicated to ensuring compliance with international regulations, delivering value-added services, and fostering trust within the ecosystem,” the post by the HashKey Group noted. Singapore, Japan, and Bermuda are other regions where HashKey has obtained operational approvals.

Crypto in the EU

EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation were finalised in 2022. The regulations went into effect on December 30, 2024.

The rules that are part of this legislation cover preventative and risk mitigation steps linked to crypto-based activities like insider dealing, unlawful disclosure of inside information, and market manipulation. The MiCA laws mandate foreign crypto firms to secure a licence from at least one of the EU's 27 national financial regulators and publish white papers and financial risk warnings around the products and services they are offering.

Under the rules, EU nations have already begun taking measures to safeguard the investor community against financial risks that volatile crypto assets can pose to them. Last September, Sweden classified some crypto exchanges and crypto-related service providers as 'professional money launderers'. The regulators there said they identified these exchanges being used by criminals to move around illegal funds.

France and Luxembourg, meanwhile, are among EU nations that are seeing an expansion in their respective crypto sectors.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, EU, HashKey Exchange, Ireland, MiCA

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More