Filing suggests SEC is exploring grounds to deny spot Ether ETFs
Opinion by: Slava Demchuk, co-founder and CEO of AMLBot
All virtual asset service providers (VASPs) registered in the EU before 2025 must comply with Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) requirements this year. Not all will be able to do so.
The MiCA regulation is, in essence, a good legal framework for the crypto industry, but it also has some disadvantages, especially for crypto startups and small businesses.
Looking at the case of Estonia and its implementation of crypto licenses in 2017, it is possible to predict that around 75% of VASPs will need to cease their operations in the EU.
What happened in Estonia with crypto licenses?
In 2017, Estonia was one of the first EU member states to introduce a crypto licensing process. Getting a crypto license (a VASP registration) was easy and fast. No physical presence, share capital requirement, or proof of having sound Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) systems in place were required. The result? By 2019, Estonia had issued around 2,000 crypto licenses.
Starting in 2019, however, Estonia adopted several amendments to the law, incorporating requirements similar to MiCA. As a consequence, the majority of licensed crypto companies were not able to comply with new requirements and lost their licenses. Today, Estonia has only around 45 licensed crypto businesses.
Current situation in the EU with VASP registration
Similar situations will occur in countries with light VASP registration requirements, such as Poland and the Czech Republic. There are around 1,600 VASPs registered in Poland, owing to the easy and fast process of registering in the country before the MiCA implementation. With minimal requirements, one can open a company and receive a VASP registration in these countries within a few weeks.
These licensing processes completely changed in 2025 when MiCA entered fully into force. All the registered VASPs must comply with new requirements, which will be the same regardless of their country of incorporation; otherwise, they will be required to cease their business.
Recent: 10 stablecoin issuers approved under EU’s MiCA — Tether is left out
Most of them will not be able to comply, based on previous experience, such as when 1,900 companies lost their VASP registrations in Estonia. Those license losses occurred as a result of several key factors:
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Their size: Many registered VASPs were one-to-three-person companies that provided essential exchange in p2p platforms or over-the-counter. They will not have enough resources to comply with strict MiCA requirements.
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The cost: Acquiring a MiCA license is expensive. It was previously possible to receive VASP registration in Poland or the Czech Republic for 2,000-4,000 euros. The price for a MiCA license is much more than that, typically around 30,000-80,000 euros, depending on the business model and country of incorporation.
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The requirements: Companies that apply for a MiCA license must prove they have many complex processes in place, including but not limited to AML/KYC, data protection and cyber resilience. Therefore, the company must hire many specialists and build many processes. Based on the number of VASPs registered in Poland, those 1,600 VASPs will need to find 1,600 AML/compliance officers (one per VASP) by July 2025 — when all VASPs in Poland shall comply with MiCA — that have relevant knowledge, expertise and pass the fit-and-proper test. This will be nearly impossible.
In addition, MiCA has high share capital requirements ranging from 50,000 to 150,000 euros, depending on the services a company provides. Many currently registered VASPs are startups or small companies whose revenue will not be able to cover all the costs needed to build the processes mentioned above and satisfy the share capital requirements.
Where does that leave the small businesses and the startups? They will not be equipped to comply with MiCA.
Opinion by: Slava Demchuk, co-founder and CEO of AMLBot.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed plans to abolish the “arms-length body” NHS England.
But what is the quango – and why is the prime minister scrapping it?
What is NHS England and how does it work?
NHS England was established in 2013 by former Tory health secretary Andrew Lansley to give the NHS greater independence and autonomy – with an intention for it to operate at arm’s length from the government.
It was set up as a quango – an organisation that is funded by taxpayers, but not controlled directly by central government – and is responsible for delivering high-quality care, supporting staff, and ensuring value for money.
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Its website states that it has a “wide range of statutory functions, responsibilities and regulatory powers”, which include working with the government to agree funding and priorities for the NHS and overseeing the delivery of safe and effective NHS services.
NHS England employs about 13,000 people.
As health is a devolved matter, the equivalent bodies for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland cannot be abolished by the prime minister.
Why has it been scrapped?
The prime minister has said abolishing the body will bring management of the NHS “back into democratic control”.
This move will put the NHS “back at the heart of government where it belongs,” he said during a speech in east Yorkshire on Thursday, “freeing it to focus on patients, less bureaucracy, with more money for nurses”.
He added that the NHS will “refocus” on cutting waiting times at “your hospital”.
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PM to abolish NHS England
When answering a question from a cancer patient on how the decision would improve NHS services, Sir Keir said: “Amongst the reasons we are abolishing it is because of the duplication.
“So, if you can believe it, we’ve got a communications team in NHS England, we’ve got a communications team in the health department of government; we’ve got a strategy team in NHS England, a strategy team in the government department. We are duplicating things that could be done once.”
He said by stripping out the duplication, it allows the government to “free up that money to put it where it needs to be, which is the front line”.
The Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “This is the final nail in the coffin of the disastrous 2012 reorganisation, which led to the longest waiting times, lowest patient satisfaction, and most expensive NHS in history.
“When money is so tight, we can’t justify such a complex bureaucracy with two organisations doing the same jobs. We need more doers, and fewer checkers, which is why I’m devolving resources and responsibilities to the NHS frontline.
“NHS staff are working flat out but the current system sets them up to fail. These changes will support the huge number of capable, innovative and committed people across the NHS to deliver for patients and taxpayers.
“Just because reform is difficult doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. This government will never duck the hard work of reform. We will take on vested interests and change the status quo, so the NHS can once again be there for you when you need it.”
What will happen now?
NHS England will be brought back into the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), it was announced, in order to end duplication.
The department said the reforms would reverse the 2012 reorganisation of the NHS “which created burdensome layers of bureaucracy without any clear lines of accountability”.
The government said the changes will also “give more power and autonomy to local leaders and systems – instead of weighing them down in increasing mountains of red tape”.
“Too much centralisation and over-supervision has led to a tangled bureaucracy, which focuses on compliance and box-ticking, rather than patient care, value for money, and innovation,” the government said.
Board members stepped down days before
In the days before Sir Keir’s announcement, NHS England said three leading board members were stepping down at the end of the month.
Chief Financial Officer Julian Kelly, NHS Chief Operating Officer Emily Lawson and Chief Delivery Officer and National Director for Vaccination and Screening Steve Russell will leave their roles in the coming weeks.
At the time, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard – who is also stepping down – said the board members made their decision based on the upcoming changes to the size and function of the centre.
Sir James Mackey, who will be taking over as transition chief executive of NHS England, said while he knows the announcement will “unsettle staff” it will also bring “welcome clarity” as the NHS focuses on “tackling the significant challenges ahead”.
Incoming NHS chair, Dr Penny Dash, added she will be working to “bring together NHSE and DHSC to reduce duplication and streamline functions”.
Turkey is advancing its cryptocurrency regulations with new rules for crypto asset service providers (CASPs).
On March 13, Turkey’s Capital Markets Board (CMB) published two regulatory documents regarding the licensing and operations of CASPs, including crypto exchanges, custodians and wallet service providers.
The framework grants the CMB full oversight of crypto platforms, ensuring compliance with national and international standards.
An excerpt from the title page of the CASP regulation document by the CMB. Source: Official Gazette
It also sets standards and requirements for establishing and providing crypto asset services in Turkey, covering establishment capital, history of executives, shareholder rules and others.
Stricter requirements for CASPs
Under the framework, CASPs will be required to invest in compliance infrastructure and establish dedicated risk management teams to identify and manage a range of risks. The providers must also establish a price monitoring system to alert suspicious trading activity.
Turkish CASPs must adhere to stringent reporting requirements, providing the CMB with timely information about their operations.
Additionally, the new framework further strengthens Turkey’s crypto Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards, requiring CASPs to record significant data sets of transaction information, including canceled and unexecuted transactions.
An excerpt from CMB’s CASP regulation document (translated by Google). Source: Official Gazette
Turkey previously introduced crypto AML regulations in December 2024, requiring users to share identifying information with CASPs for transactions of more than 15,000 Turkish liras ($409).
According to the document, Turkey’s new crypto regulations align with global standards and follow regulatory approaches set by Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
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