Coinbase was granted permission by the Central Bank of Ireland to act as a virtual asset service provider. The company’s operations in the country will be overseen by Cormac Dinan, a former employee of Crypto.com, Deloitte and Citigroup.
Under the VASP registration, Coinbase Ireland will be subject to the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010.
Two Coinbase entities are covered by the VASP registration: Coinbase Europe Limited and Coinbase Custody International Limited. The first provides crypto trading services to European customers, while Coinbase Custody International provides crypto custody services to institutional clients across the region.
Nana Murugesan, vice president for international and business development at Coinbase emphasized the importance of the European Union’s political agreement on the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework in providing one of the most significant regulatory frameworks for crypto worldwide. According to Coinbase, additional registrations or license applications are in progress in several major markets.
Alongside Ireland, Coinbase has dedicated hubs in the United Kingdom and Germany; in the latter country, Coinbase is under scrutiny due to the outsourcing of some of its essential banking operations. In September, the company was registered with De Nederlandsche Bank, the central bank of the Netherlands, allowing the crypto exchange to offer its retail and institutional crypto products in the country.
