Kraken’s Irish subsidiary Payward Europe Solutions, registered in Dublin, was authorized as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) by the Central Bank of Ireland on April 18. The VASP authorization comes at a critical time for Kraken. The European Union plans to hold a final vote on the long-awaited Market in Cryptoassets (MiCA) regulation.
MiCA legislation is expected to pass after preliminary votes showed overwhelming bipartisan support. If true, the resulting changes would require any firm operating as a CASP (crypto asset service provider) in the EU to register with one of the bloc's 27 authorized regulators.
Kraken, or rather its Irish subsidiary Payward Europe Solutions, has been granted such qualification, becoming the third cryptocurrency outlet to be so registered. Exchanges Gemini and Coinbase received VASP authorizations in July and December 2022, respectively. Mark Jennings, head of Kraken's European operations, praised the Bank of Ireland's decision in a company blog post, saying "clear and effective regulation is critical to mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies." legality of:
"Kraken's VASP registration in Ireland demonstrates to our customers and regulators that Kraken adheres to the strongest anti-money laundering and compliance standards in Europe. The registration further underscores Kraken's commitment to driving cryptocurrency adoption across Europe, now and in the future. " Back in the U.S., the road for the Kraken cryptocurrency exchange was even bumpier as it was forced to settle with the SEC over alleged misconduct with its staking services. As a result of the lawsuit, Kraken paid a $30 million fine and agreed to stop providing staking services to U.S. clients.
Fast forward to April 18th, and it looks like Kraken should be on track to meet MiCA compliance requirements before the EU vote on April 19th. If the measures are passed, full implementation is expected in the third quarter of 2024 after an 18-month transition period.
