Bitstamp Moves to Luxembourg, Becomes First Nationally-Licensed Exchange

[Nemo1024]

Good news, indeed. Just got an e-mail from Bitstamp half an hour ago:

We are very excited to share with you today that Bitstamp has been granted a license by the Luxembourg government to be a fully regulated and licensed exchange in the EU. This is an unprecedented moment for the bitcoin, and brings with it a new era of security and transparency to the industry. The news is the result of a rigorous application process with the Luxembourg financial regulator, the Luxembourg Financial Industry Supervisory Commission (known as CSSF) spanning nearly two years, which included security reviews in addition to an audit by Ernst & Young Luxembourg. Bitstamp's license is passportable into the 28 EU member states providing all European customers with a robust, secure platform for bitcoin trading.
Establishing our EU base in Luxembourg, a country that is known for its long-standing history as an international leader in e-payments and data privacy as well as the European headquarters for many global players including Amaz on, PayPal and Skype, Luxembourg embodies an exceptionally strong infrastructure and the financial and security awareness we were seeking for this process.

What does this mean for me?

New and current Bitstamp clients can rest assured knowing that Bitstamp and its services are approved across Europe. This stamp of approval ensures that Bitstamp offers the highest levels of security and consumer protection previously only recognized in traditional financial institutions.

What else is new?

Bitstamp has simultaneously launched BTC/EUR trading to better serve European markets. We are also offering free trading in BTC/EUR for our loyal clients for the next month (Until end of May).

Effective Tuesday, 26th of April all EUR deposits received will be credited directly to EUR account balance. Trading will start same day at 1:00 PM CEST. To protect our clients ask/bid orders overlapping on launch day will be removed prior to launching the order book.

Note that all non-EUR deposits will continue to be converted to USD.

[Wendigo]

Congratulations to all fellow Europeans for our first fully regulated and licensed Bitcoin exchange   I think this regulation will bring only positive things to the Bitcoin community and add another layer of security for our deposited coins as this means prosecution of thieves throughout the European Union should someone try to pull another heist at Bitstamp. Bitcoin is not in the Wild West territory anymore now we have sheriffs as well  

[jt byte]

Thought I read about it being relocated too Spain or is that where it originally was   

[Pompobit]

great news.

I have already asked it in another thread, but is there some sort of insurance on bitstamp funds and/or customer funds?

[mayax]

great news.

I have already asked it in another thread, but is there some sort of insurance on bitstamp funds and/or customer funds?

Right but their license as payment institution (PI) is only available in...Luxembourg. This licensed cannot be passported to other EU countries.

The Electronic Money Institution (EMI) can be passported BUT not the PI license.

So, Bitstamp is lying like a shit or they are too stupid to know what they "bought" .  

In short, the Bistamp license is good but only within Luxembourg and indeed they will cut the fake transactions with a half. They will have to appoint an external auditor, they will have to comply with strict rules and it will be harder to make the shits they did till now(with the Willy bot).

Also, the funds are not insured BUT it's much better than nothing. A PI company is regulated and they cannot disappear overnight.It's out of the shadow.

[SFR10]

This is the best move I've seen an exchange make in a while, considering recent events to some other exchanges. It surely strengthen and adds stability to them and could see them just improving from now on. It seems that their also trying to somehow ditch $ trades (step by step), since there are a lot of rules in different states in US that has made BTCitcoin experience unpleasant for some users.

[Evildrum]

Transparency will go a long way in bringing bitcoin into the light. The more doors in the foundation the more people will check it out and go down farther into a bitcoin aspect.
Like it alot!

[Junko]

Will clients' bitcoins and money now be insured against unauthorized activity?

[Herbert2020]

i think that is good news and helps us trust them some more, still not 100% but it can be trusted so much more than other exchangers. also the fact that they are not in US anymore is a lot better in my opinion, US has sometimes bad rules and especially when it comes to privacy.

[NUFCrichard]

That sounds like great news to me.  Luxembourg is one of those a little bit dodgy European tax havens that has a massive financial services sector, so having a big bitcoin exchange there is a good thing.

It legitimizes Bitstamp if they weren't already legit enough.  Let's see if they make buying bitcoin even easier for us Europeans now.

[Kakmakr]

The USA are going to lose more ground with Bitcoin, because of over-regulation. BitLicense was overkill in every sense of the word and that will kill innovation and possible job opportunities in many states in the USA. While the businesses relocate to EU, a brain drain will occur in the USA.

In the end of the day, I think this is a very good move for Bitstamp and good for Bitcoin.

[mkc]

The USA are going to lose more ground with Bitcoin, because of over-regulation. BitLicense was overkill in every sense of the word and that will kill innovation and possible job opportunities in many states in the USA. While the businesses relocate to EU, a brain drain will occur in the USA.

In the end of the day, I think this is a very good move for Bitstamp and good for Bitcoin.

It is still a hassle to deposit into Bitstramp from USA. I think this probably is a none event. Bitstamp is already one of most trusted and pricey exchanges, licensing only reinforce such image.