Estonia’s Registered Crypto Firms Drop 80% as Tough New Checks Reveal ‘Suspicious’ Behavior

A controversial crypto law has reduced the number of registered firms in Estonia by around 80%, according to data published by the country’s money-laundering regulator on Monday.

Around 200 licenses were withdrawn by the firms themselves, and around the same number was rejected by the country’s Financial Intelligence Unit, which has been charged with implementing a 2022 law that requires companies to keep hefty capital reserves and genuine links to Estonia.

“In renewing authorizations, we saw situations that would surprise every supervisor,” Matis Mäeker, director of the Financial Intelligence Unit, said in a statement, adding that “suspicious circumstances” on applications sometimes suggested links to unlawful activities.

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