Coinbase expands into Europe after getting regulatory approval in Italy

The largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, Coinbase, is expanding into Europe. The exchange has obtained regulatory approval from the Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM). With this license, Coinbase will operate as a crypto asset service provider in Italy.

Coinbase gets regulatory approval in Italy

Coinbase announced this development on July 18, saying it is now among the few crypto service providers that have complied with all the requirements needed by Italian regulators.

The OAM requires foreign cryptocurrency companies based in Italy to set up strong measures to prevent money laundering. The Vice President of International and Business Development at Coinbase, Nana Murugesan, commented on the move saying it illustrated the close relationship between the exchange and Italian financial regulators.

The move is in line with Coinbase’s plans to achieve expansion into Europe. Earlier this month, the exchange said it plans to expand its presence into more European countries. The exchange is licensed in Ireland, Germany, and the United Kingdom, with Italy being the latest addition to the list.

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Murugesan said that Coinbase was expanding while paying close attention to the regulations of the target jurisdictions. The objective was to deliver crypto services to its customers through a trusted and secure crypto platform. The other European countries where Coinbase wants to expand into include France, Switzerland, Spain, and the Netherlands.

Coinbase faces stiff competition

The cryptocurrency market has grown significantly over the past year. Amid this growth, there has also been increased competition from companies wanting to secure a large market share.

Coinbase commands the largest crypto trading volumes in the US. However, it faces stiff competition from other exchanges such as Binance and FTX. Binance US recently launched zero-fee Bitcoin trading, which is intended to attract more customers given Coinbase’s high trading fees.

Binance also recently obtained a license from Italy’s OAM. Binance is the largest exchange globally by trading volumes, and besides pursuing its expansion into Europe, it also commands a massive share of the crypto volumes in the Middle East, having obtained approvals in Dubai and Bahrain.

Amid this stiff competition, Coinbase is still planning to become the “Amazon of crypto.” The head of the EMEA region at Coinbase, Guillaume Chatain, said that the exchange wanted to offer all the crypto assets in the market after getting the right authorization to do this.

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