• Belgium’s financial regulatory agency (FSMA) has imposed a new rule for crypto exchanges and wallet services in the region.
• According to FSMA’s information, the rule will take effect on May 1st.
• All legal entities and individuals who want to offer cryptocurrency-based services to Belgium must register.

Belgium’s financial regulatory agency, the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), has imposed a new rule for crypto exchanges and wallet services in the region. A strict registration deadline will apply to crypto service providers.

According to FSMA’s information, this rule will take effect May 1. It will apply to all legal entities and individuals who want to offer custodial or crypto-based services to Belgium.

Existing crypto-businesses that were operating before the official announcement must inform the FSMA by law of any activities they have conducted prior to July 1. Existing businesses must register with the financial regulator as regulated entities before September 1st, in addition to disclosing all operations.

The FSMA also lists seven conditions that cryptocurrency businesses need to follow in order to remain active registered with Belgian regulators. This includes forming a company of at least $52,725 in capital (EUR 50,000)

The FSMA will complete registration within three months if all required information is provided. Crypto service providers will be issued a unique registration number after successful registration. This number will be used in any future interactions with the FSMA.

Since the start of the year, Belgium’s pro-crypto position has been maintained by Christophe De Beukelaer (a Brussels parliament member) who became the first European politician to convert his monthly salary into Bitcoin.

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