Swiss digital asset bank AMINA has received a regulatory license from Austria’s Financial Market Authority (FMA) to operate cryptocurrency services across Europe under the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory scheme.
Austria’s approval paves the way for AMINA EU’s launch (the official entity licensed by the FMA is AMINA [Austria] AG), to offer crypto trading, custody, portfolio management services and investments to professional investors, including family offices, companies and financial institutions, AMINA said.
AMINA (formerly known as SEBA Bank) holds a banking license from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) as well as crypto licenses in Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. The crypto bank is located in the private client and accredited investor area and works together with private banks Julius Baer and LGT Bank, a banking and wealth management group owned by the Liechtenstein Princely Family.
“We offer everything from bank accounts to cryptobank loans, all done in a regulated way,” said Franz Bergmueller, CEO of AMINA Bank, in an interview with CoinDesk. “We’re also now serving these new digital asset treasury companies and we started doing tokenization years ago – our gold token product is skyrocketing at the moment.”
‘Positively shocked’
Austria was chosen as AMINA EU’s European entry point due to its regulatory expertise and strong commitment to investor protection, according to a press release. Austria is the European regulatory base for well-known crypto firms such as Bitpanda and Bybit, while Kucoin is known to be awaiting authorization there.
“We received a full banking license from FINMA in Switzerland, so I think we can make comparisons,” Bergmueller said of Austria as the chosen crypto base for MiCA. “I can tell you that the FMA in Vienna has the highest standards you can imagine.”
The arrival of a unified regulatory framework for crypto businesses across the EU shows the growing market maturity of digital assets. That said, the rollout of MiCA has not been without its wrinkles. Indeed, Austria’s FMA joined the French and Italian financial regulators in calling for tighter EU controls on MiCA back in September.
“Three years ago, I was positively shocked that Europe could agree on crypto,” Bergmueller said. “And actually, I think they haven’t done a bad job of defining everything. Of course, it’s a super young industry and there will be new technological developments. It’s a constant evolution.”
