Dutch Crypto Derivatives Exchange Leaves for Crypto-friendly Panama

Moreover, the Netherlands based Deribit B.V. will delegate its mandates to its daughter company; DRB Panama early February while also updating its Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. According to the firm’s statement, it has decided to transfer to Panama amid the likelihood of tighter regulatory demands across the EU.

The new regulatory requirements labelled 5AMLD will require Deribit users to produce significant personal information in order to participate in the exchange. The firm’s statement read:

“We believe that crypto markets should be freely available to most, and the new regulations would put too high barriers for the majority of traders, both — regulatory and cost-wise.”

Updated Terms and KYC

In addition, Deribit’s statement included a change in the terms and conditions; plus altered privacy policy as part of the transfer to Panama. The firm is planning to expand its KYC requirements and the statement noted that it will be mandatory for customers who require withdraw more than one bitcoin over a 24 hour period. 

Furthermore, Deribit plans to use verifications and payment firm Jumio as well as Chainalysis to update its KYC requirements. As per the statement, the firm will host multi-customer activity levels on the platform. It will be based on certain KYC elements.

In conclusion, the European Union is expected to comply with the new requirements of 5AMLD. However, this still frees up individual countries to move above and beyond if so inclined. As for the Netherlands, Deribit claimed it expects the country to "adopt a very strict implementation of the EU regulations."