LHV Bank of Estonia to Offer Bitcoin Trading to its Clients

• Amber Smith
• December 22, 2021

One of the largest banks of Estonia, LHV Bank, has recently made an announcement noting that it would be offering clients access to crypto trading services. This will make LHV bank the first one in the country to offer such services to its clients.

The clients of the bank will have the opportunity to trade crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Chainlink using the mobile application of LHV. It was also announced that the trading solution in the application of the bank will be based on Bitstamp, which is one of the largest crypto exchanges globally.

According to the statement issued by the bank, individuals will be able to trade crypto assets alongside their other investments. As a result, the crypto exchange will be offering traders convenient access to the popular and rapidly growing crypto industry, and will also allow clients to have a look at their portfolio.

Apart from this, the mobile application of the bank will be offering individuals pre-filled tax forms, which will make it easier for them to declare crypto transactions. It was noted by the head of the investment services in retail banking of the company that LHV works very hard to ensure that the clients have the opportunity to grow their wealth using the assets that they want.

He added that it was one of the main reasons why the representatives of the bank were so actively monitoring the developments in the world of investment to ensure that the offerings are always up-to-date with the ongoing events around the world.

LVH is one of the largest domestic banks available in Estonia and it employs over 630 people, with over 310,000 clients using the services of the bank.

Available Crypto Assets

While announcing the decision, the bank noted that it will be offering clients the opportunity to buy and sell eight major cryptocurrencies at market prices.

Among the cryptocurrencies that will be initially available for the clients of the bank are Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Uniswap, Chainlink, Stellar Lumens, Polygon, and Aave. However, the representatives of the company also added that the bank is planning to offer individuals additional assets for trading as well as more order types and solutions to ensure convenient trading services for individuals.

LHV has also noted that in the long run, they are planning to closely monitor the development of the blockchain industry and solutions around the world. According to LHV representatives, whenever new and right opportunities arise in the market, they will be ready to take the needed steps to offer their clients more diverse services.

The crypto and blockchain industry has become very popular in Estonia over the past few years. The younger generation of the country is very enthusiastic about the crypto industry and everything that it can bring for individuals. The steps taken by the country’s largest bank are very important for the future development of the industry in Estonia.

Estonia’s Efforts in Crypto Regulations

Recently, the Ministry of Finance of Estonia issued a bill aiming at establishing operational and supervisory requirements for a huge part of the fintech sector in the country, which includes crowdfunding platforms as well as those offering access to crypto trading services.

The Minister of Finance of the country, Keit-Pentus Rosimannus said that the fintech industry has grown dramatically in the country over the years, and there are even some international companies that are operating in the country.

Due to such a high pace of development, there have been numerous services to raise money and enter the market. According to him, as of now, there is a very minimal regulatory interference of the government in the industry, and it is very important to come up with a way to regulate the market, while not getting in the way of innovation.

It was noted that the main aim of the changes in the regulatory framework of the country is to ensure that the rules are uniform for everyone who is involved in the sector. On the other hand, it is also quite important to ensure that retail traders participating in the industry are able to receive correct and complete information about their investments as well as other services they might be using.

Existing and future crowdfunding service providers will have to adapt their activities to the new standards once the modifications take effect. This entails obtaining an activity license and becoming subject to the Financial Supervision

Authority’s monitoring, as well as the reporting requirement. In addition, companies must deliver the service in compliance with legal requirements and will be held accountable if these criteria are not met.

In addition, starting today, all virtual currency service providers licensed by the Financial Intelligence Unit must apply for an activity license from the Financial Supervision Authority and adhere to the bill’s provisions in their operations.

The European Union’s crowdfunding rule, which went into effect on November 10 this year, only applies to sites that allow people to invest in businesses. This law proposes to impose identical operating criteria on other crowdfunding service providers, resulting in a level playing field in the industry.

Amendments to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act are also being prepared, with the goal of establishing new standards for more effective management of money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with virtual currency service providers.

According to the market experts, such steps taken by the government of the country are very important for the future development of the fintech and blockchain industry in the country. However, it is very important for the government of Estonia to ensure that they do not get in the way of innovation in the market while also safeguarding individuals participating in the markets.