Dutch startup Blockrise has just received something that dozens of cryptocurrency companies in Europe dream of – a MiCA license. And he’s not going to play in the sandbox with it, because he’s coming right in with something that can definitely increase the adoption of cryptocurrencies in Europe – especially among companies.
MiCA opens Blockrise to big business in Europe
The Dutch Financial Supervisory Authority (AFM) has licensed Blockrise under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations, making the company one of the pioneers of fully regulated bitcoin services in Europe. The license covers the storage, trading and management of BTC assets in all EU countries.
But the real treat awaits business customers. Blockrise is launching a bitcoin-secured lending service, even though MiCA does not yet formally regulate crypto-lending. How is this possible?
Bitcoin as collateral – from $23,000
MiCA provides the basis for offering BTC-secured loans, but only to corporate clients. This allows us to operate within the regulatory framework
– explains CEO Jos Lazet. The minimum loan amount is EUR 20,000 (approx. USD 23,000) and the current interest rate is 8% per annum.
The company manages approximately EUR 100 million ($116 million) of assets using a semi-custodial custody model. In practice, this means that neither Blockrise nor the client can initiate the transaction separately – cooperation between both parties is required. Private keys are generated in special hardware modules (HSM) and never leave secured “vaults”.
Regulatory strategy for the future
Founded in 2017, the company focuses exclusively on Bitcoin and is clearly betting on the long game. While others are experimenting with thousands of altcoins, Blockrise shows that regulated BTC business in Europe may be simpler than it seems.
The only question is whether the competition will be able to catch up before Blockrise takes over the European bitcoin business loan market.
