https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=34&v=aoqJ7SxVwtA
Attorney Adam Tracy discusses three jurisdictions to operate an unlicensed cryptocurrency exchange from and the procedure and pitfalls associated therewith.
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A former competitive rugby player, serial entrepreneur and, trader attorney, Adam S. Tracy offers over 17 years of progressive legal and compliance experience in the areas of corporate, commodities, cryptocurrency, litigation, payments and securities law. Adam’s experience ranges from commodities trader for oil giant BP, initial public offerings, M&A, to initial coin offerings, having represented both startups to NASDAQ-listed entities. As an early Bitcoin adapter, Adam has promoted growth of cryptocurrency and offers a unique approach to representing crypto-clients. Based in Chicago, IL, Adam graduated from the University of Notre Dame with dual degrees in Finance and Computer Applications and would later obtain his J.D. and M.B.A. from DePaul University. Adam lives outside Chicago with his six animals, which is illegal where he lives.
Primary website: http://www.tracyfirm.com
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Email me: at@tracyfirm.com
TRANSCRIPTION:
I get this question a lot, and that is do you need a license for an offshore crypto exchange? And answer is no, okay, with some caveats to it. And that main caveat being where you’re domiciled or where you purport to operate from. As I discussed with, you know, like Vanuatu (places like that), the process of domiciling there and operating requires a license in that jurisdiction. In that jurisdiction it is very easy get what is a pseudo securities 4X license. There’s three particular jurisdictions, which allow 4X activity, which includes crypto exchange but doesn’t require license, and those ways are Nevis (which I’m a big fan of and I’ve spoke about before), Saint Vincent, and the Seychelles. None of them require a license to operate a foreign exchange dealer or a foreign exchange broker. That’s why you see a great deal of 4X binary options and other type of companies operating from those jurisdictions. So, it’s great in a sense. One of the pitfalls is that without a license banking becomes very difficult, and banking is already very difficult when you’re dealing with crypto. So now you’re compounding it in the sense that you’re operating an unlicensed 4X exchange. Now I’ve read, and I can’t verify it, that about 90% of 4X brokers actually start out as being unlicensed. And that may, in fact, be accurate, but as you as you grow it does make some sense, especially from a banking perspective and from a transparency perspective, to become licensed, whether that’s like in class C jurisdiction like a Vanuatu or Cyprus or Malta or Gibraltar, or like a Class B, even in UK and Australia, then class A which would be like the United States. So, it’s an interesting thing. And so, you can operate without the license, but you still have to be careful with respect to the jurisdictions in which you’re operating, right? And that’s particularly germane to the United States, right? So if you’re going to operate a crypto exchange based in one these three locales that don’t require any particular licensure, you have to be sure that you’ve got the requisite licensure in the United States, right? And if that entails if you’re dealing Fiat, having money transmitter license, if you’re not dealing with Fiat, at a minimum being money service business. And so the money service business registration (which I’ve also spoke about before) requires you register with FinCEN, and implicates and triggers all your AML KYC Bank Secrecy Act compliance and the whole scheme, which you may be doing anyway, right? It’s good practice to do anyway, but, you know, just because your operating from an unlicensed jurisdiction, it doesn’t mean that you escaped U.S. regulation if you’re going to take US customers. Which is particularly problematic if you’re a US citizen, because, of course, you’re opening the door to a fair amount of liability. So those three nations: Nevis, Saint Vincent, the Seychelles — great places to consider if you’re going to start a crypto exchange or even a 4X Broker, but it comes with its own set of challenges. And when you look at, you know, the ability to get licenses in places like Vanuatu especially, you know, for the cost versus the problems you encounter, it may not be the best place, but it is entirely legal and legitimate to operate from those locales. So hit me up TracyFirm.com. at@tracyfirm.com is my email, and I’ll talk to soon.
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