What permissions a company need in HR to run a crypto exchange?

[_Kristijan_]

Hi, i see more and more small exchanges "mjenjačnica" to appear in croatia. And i am curious to hear, what permissions a croatian company need in to run a crypto exchange?
I guess it is not as hard as in germany. In germany you need to get a banking licence like permissions (super expensive > 750.000 EUR) and hard to get
after years of approval process. Thats why whole german only has just two exchanges.

If the approval process in croatia is "doable" i consider to establish one which would target german audience.

p.s.
local partners welcome

[Daniel91]

I think that you should send this question to accounting company in Croatia, not in public forum.
I think that I remember that one company run crypto exchange in Croatia as ltd company and they even find a ''hole'' in Croatian law in order to avoid paying taxes on all transactions.
Since bitcoin is not recognized in Croatia as money or financial asset, they find some article in the law that there is no taxes in buying and selling old banknotes that are no longer in use, so they used this as legal reason to save money and avoid tax added value
If you want to do business in Croatia, you can do it with foreign company, as non resident company, and without any problem open business bank account in Croatia and run everything online, or open office in Croatia.
I did the same thing with one business before.
Opened ltd company in UK, business bank account in Croatia and run whole business online.

[_Kristijan_]

I am ok to discuss this in public. Because i do not have the purpose to "optimize" tax affairs.
I just want to know beforehand, on what legal requirements you can open a croatian crypto exchange.

bitcoin is not recognized in Croatia as money or financial asset

If this is true, then even no regulatory at all is needed? Would be to good to be true...
And if so, i also would start a croatian "d.o.o."

[Daniel91]

Just recently Croatian tax office send official opinion about income from bitcoin.
You have to report income from bitcoin earnings but, as I understand it, when you exchange funds from btc to fiat money, not before.
We are paying capital tax, 12 % plus surtax.

[marinko9]

I think it should be as simple as opening a normal ltd company. However to be sure, consult a lawyer before doing that, just to be on the safe side.

On the other hand, your idea about targeting only German speaking customers here in Croatia will not be that profitable, you should really consider to target Croatian, English and German speaking audience if you want to do it properly.

[iluvbitcoins]

I think it should be as simple as opening a normal ltd company. However to be sure, consult a lawyer before doing that, just to be on the safe side.

On the other hand, your idea about targeting only German speaking customers here in Croatia will not be that profitable, you should really consider to target Croatian, English and German speaking audience if you want to do it properly.

The internet is online.
So by targeting the german population, it targets all the germans, not just those in Croatia 

[_Kristijan_]

The internet is online.
So by targeting the german population, it targets all the germans, not just those in Croatia

Yes, thanks to the power of internet, you can do this  And since we have SEPA, even EUR bank transfer is a piece of cake
between german and a croatian bank account.

However to be sure, consult a lawyer before doing that

Of course. Just want to gather as much information about the situation beforehand, to decide if this undertaking is doable at all.


What about the license to run a classic "mjenjačnica": http://www.mjenjacnica.com/18/za-nove-mjenjace  Maybe this is needed?

[Daniel91]

I am ok to discuss this in public. Because i do not have the purpose to "optimize" tax affairs.
I just want to know beforehand, on what legal requirements you can open a croatian crypto exchange.

bitcoin is not recognized in Croatia as money or financial asset

If this is true, then even no regulatory at all is needed? Would be to good to be true...
And if so, i also would start a croatian "d.o.o."

Please check out more before opening Croatian ltd or d.o.o.
In Croatia we have a lot problems with bureaucracy.
If you want to open company in Croatia, you have to visit personally bank, tax office, public notary and Fina (financial agency).
You have to reserve company name and wait for approval from the court, 4-5 working days.
If denied, you have to start all proces again and sometimes people loose several weeks just because of name.
When you start business, you have a lot taxes and papers to do etc.
If you open company in UK, you can do it in a few hours, it's online process completely and you can check company name availability in a few seconds
I created several companies in UK and experienced it personally.
Also, there is no problems with bureaucracy in UK.
Because of it, I never considered start Croatian company even I'm Croatian and live in Croatia.
My first choice was UK.
Please think about it more.
If you have more questions we can talk in pm.
I

[marinko9]

I think that classical exchange office "mjenjačnica" has nothing do with your crypto exchange.

[geronimo40]

I'm an accountant in Croatia,if you are still interested for this topic,I can explain all details about company formations,details about crypto trade taxation etc,btw,you can sent me your e-mail adress in pm.