It is a busy Q4 2024 in the Irish crypto asset sector with 6 Virtual Asset Services Providers obtain registration with the Central Bank of Ireland.  And all six are very welcome to the Fintech Ireland and MiCA Ready Fintech Maps.  Special thanks to the CompliReg for sponsoring and supporting this edition (version 9) of the the Virtual Asset Service Providers Map.    

Joining the Irish Fintech Ecosystem are:

1. CoinJar Europe Limited - registered to provide services: #i, ii, iii & iv *
2. Figure Markets Ireland Ltd - registered to provide services: #iii
3. Legend Financial Ireland Limited - registered to provide services: #i & ii
4. HashKey Europe Limited - registered to provide services #i, ii, iii & iv
5. Fidelity Digital Assets Ireland Ltd - registered to provide services #i, iii & iv
6. StoneX Digital International Ltd - registered to provide services ##i, ii, iii & iv

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* Service Provided as appearing on Central Bank Register as at 4 December 2024:

(i) Provision of exchange services between virtual assets and fiat currencies
(ii) Exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets;
(iii) Transfer (to conduct a transaction on behalf of another natural or legal person that
moves a virtual asset from one virtual asset address or account to another) of virtual assets
(iv) Custodian wallet providers


The above six VASPs bring the total number of Registered VASPs in Ireland to 21, joining these other 15 VASPs.

• Gemini Intergalactic Europe Limited
• Zodia Custody (Ireland) Limited 
• Coinbase Europe Limited 
• Coinbase Custody International Limited 
• Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited
• Payward Europe Solutions Limited (Kraken)
• NoFrixion Limited
• Pionew Ireland Limited
• Moonpay Technology Services Limited                
• Zodia Markets (Ireland) Limited 
• Ripple Markets Ireland Limited
• Fortuna Digital Custody Ltd
• Ramp Swaps (Ireland) Limited
• Foris DAX Global Limited (Crypto.com)
• Sors Digital Assets Limited

The increase in the number of Registered VASPs brings the total number of Authorised and Registered Fintechs to at least 82 players.  This definition of fintech covers VASPs, Emoney Firms, Payment Institutions, AISPs and PISPs authorised or registered in Ireland. There are other firms, such as MiFID firms that are likely fintech and will include those we identify on a Map at a later date.

​Find these 82 Authorised and Registered fintechs on the Map below.

Ireland is now home to at least 75 regulated fintechs with the registrations of both Foris DAX Global Limited (aka Crypto.com) and Sors Digital Assets Limited.  The two companies were registered by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 as virtual asset service providers.  To remind, VASPs are not authorised but registered to provide their services.

Linkedin Post here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/peteroakes_cryptoasset-virtualasset-micar-activity-7219828976863641601-fNxw

Fintech Ireland is delighted to welcome both firms to the ever-growing Regulated Fintech Map (Version 11) and the VASP Map (version 8).  Thanks to CompliReg and MiCA Ready which support firms in the  in the #cryptoasset / #virtualasset industry.

By the way, did you know that today (19 July 2024) is the second anniversary of the very first registration of a VASP?  That honour belongs to Gemini Intergalactic Europe Limited which was registered on 19 July two years ago.  Happy anniversary!

This registration of Crypto.com on 7 June 2024 and Sors Digital Assets on 16 July 2024 increases the pool of regulated fintech in Ireland to at least 75, comprised of:

* 27 authorised electronic money institutions
* 22 payments institutions,
* 6 standalone open banking firms,
* 15 VASP, and
* 5 crowdfunding services providers.

Those who read the recent Authorisation and Gatekeeping Report issued by the Central bank of Ireland might recall:

• that as at 31 December 2023 there were 14 applicants for a VASP registration in the pipeline as at that date.  Obviously deduct 2, and that means if there have been no withdrawals and no new applications, we might see a further 12 firms become registered before year’s end.  If that is the case the Central Bank will have its work cut out for itself dealing with potentially 27 MiCAR applications. Of course, it would be wise to assume that further companies have applied for registration since the start of this year.
• the average number of days taken to register a VASP is 530 calendar days and is largely driven by time taken by the applicants to respond to queries raised during the assessment. A significant number of firms have withdrawn from the registration process. 

According to Companies Registration Office Records, Sors Digital Assets is a shareholder (32.67%) in Fortuna Digital Custody Ltd which was registered as a VASP by the Central Bank of Ireland earlier this year on 9 May 2024.  Sors Digital Assets is owned by Brian Elders (55%) and Stephen Browne (45%).  Brian Elders is a director of both Sors Digital Assets and Fortuna Custody Ltd.  Sors Digital Assets had net assets of €769K as at 31 December 2023.  Stephen Browne is another director of Sors Digital Assets.

​Foris DAX Global Limited is wholly owned by  Foris Dax Holdings Ltd.  Its directors are Mariana Dinkova Gospodinova, Rafael De Marco E Melo and Antonio Alvarez Lorenzo.  Within the Crypto.com group, Mariana serves as EVP Operations & GM Europe; Rafael is co-founder and CFO; and Antonio is Group Chief Compliance Officer.  Crypto.com's VASP registered operations made a small overall profit (comprehensive income) of €71.4K in the year to 31 December 2022 well down on the €3.120M profit for the previous year.  The company's net assets as at 31 December 2022 were €3.2M.   

We wish both Crypto.com and Sors Digital Assets the very best success for their future endeavours.
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• Need assistance with an emoney or payments authorisation or an account information service provider or virtual asset services provider registration application, check out Fintech Ireland and CompliReg's handy authorisation guides at https://fintechireland.com/fintech-authorisations.html. 

LinkedIN Post here - https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7201146292276711425/​


Ramp Swaps (Ireland) Limited joins the Fintech Ireland Maps following its registration as a Virtual Asset Services Provider on 17 May 2024.

This increases the pool of regulated fintech in Ireland to at least 73, comprised of:
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• 27 authorised electronic money institutions,
• 22 payments institutions,
• 6 standalone open banking firms,
• 13 virtual asset services providers, and
• 5 crowdfunding services providers. 

Ramp Swaps was registered on 17 May 2024 a Virtual Asset Services Provider.  It is the second VASP to be registered thus far in 2024 by the Central Bank of Ireland. The previous registered VASP was Fortuna Digital Custody (see previous blog).

Ramp Swaps was incorporated in Ireland on 25 April 2023. The company is the 13th firm to become registered to provide crypto services in Ireland. 

According to records at the Companies Registration Office, the directors of the company are are Szymon Sypniewicz and Przemyslaw Kowalczyk who are co-funders of the Ramp Group. The group was established to make web3 accessible to all. According to Forbes "They prioritize safety and compliance in crypto and have experience in tech solutions and blockchain lending. Ramp focuses on user experience and partnerships and is registered with financial authorities.".

Ramp, which has been described as a 'PayPal for crypto' by Business Insider also registered as a Cryptoasset Services Provider by the UK FCA.  Poland's Ramp, which is building payment rails to allow more customers to invest in crypto, raised US$70mn in a Series B funding round announced on 11 November 2022. 

The Series B funding co-led by Mubadala Capital and Korelya Capital was a rare silver lining against a bleak crypto backdrop.  Ramp has now raised more than US$122mn in the last 12 months despite the current 'crypto winter'. The fintech will use the money to invest further in its product line, add local fiat currencies and payment methods, expand into new territories and hire fresh talent.

Coindesk reported on the registration on 23 May 2024.  In its reported it noted that:
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• The Ramp Network is a financial technology company building payment rails connecting crypto to the global financial system. This registration will enable its users to exchange fiat currencies for more than 100 crypto assets.
• The company wants to make Ireland its European headquarters and has established a team and operation in Dublin. It intends to get authorized as a Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA).

Fintech Ireland Newsletter: If you wish to receive the regular Fintech Ireland Newsletter for a round-up of fintech news and our events, sign-up here.  We use MailChimp, so you can sign-up and unsubscribe with ease. ​

Since mid August 2023, it has been very quiet at the Virtual Asset Services Provider end of town when the then last VASP, MoonPay, was registered in Ireland on 15 August.

Fintech Ireland and MiCAReady.com have published version 4 of the Map (with assistance from Susan O’Neill of SuLu Solutions and Peter Oakes of Fintech Ireland), updated to include Zodia Markets (Ireland) Limited.  Zodia Markets today (26 October 2023) joins Zodia Custody (Ireland) Limited, the latter which was registered back in July 2022, on version 4 of the Fintech Ireland Registered VASP Map.

The VASPs are registered by the Central Bank of Ireland for Anti Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism purposes under Section 106A of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts 2010 to 2021.  They are not, as such, 'authorised' firms.

Welcome Zodia Markets (Ireland) Limited to the Map.

Zodia Markets was registered by the Central Bank of Ireland on 26 October 2023.  Specifically, it is registered for service numbers: (i) exchange between virtual assets & fiat currencies; and (ii) the exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets.  Zodia Custody is registered in Ireland for service numbers: (iii) transfer of virtual assets -  conduct a transaction on behalf of another; and (iv) custodian wallet provider.  Zodia Custody was the second of 10 VASP registered in Ireland when it became registered back on 29 June 2022.

Zodia Markets joins other registered virtual asset services firms including Coinbase Europe Limited, Coinbase Custody International Limited, Gemini Intergalactic Europe Limited, Zodia Custody Ireland Limited, Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited, NoFrixion Ireland Limited, Pionex Ireland Limited and MoonPay.  Some of these crypto firms also hold an electronic money authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland.

Zodia Market's local board of directors (according to Companies Registration Office records) are Nicholas Philpott and Michael Walsh.  The VASP was incorporated on 16 June 2021.

In a statement released on Linkedin by Zodia Markets its Chief Executive Officer, Michael Walsh, commented: “The registration will act as a launchpad for the business to enter the EU, a market where we see significant opportunity and demand for our offering”.   In the statement, Zodia Markets said "That this exciting development will enable it to provide services to clients throughout the European Union ahead of the implementation of the Markets of Cryptoassets Regulation. 

BTW, Fintech Ireland and Peter Oakes are supporting both (1) MiCA Ready which tracks materially important EU news on MiCA and (2) Digital Assets Africa.   If you need assistance with getting your VASP registered in Ireland or elsewhere in Europe reach out to Peter.

Don't forget to check out our Fintech Ireland Crypto Page.

Previous editions of the Map.

• Version 1, April 2023 Blog here
• Version 2, July 2023 Blog here
• Version 3, August 2023 Blog here

Back on 12 April 2023, together with Susan O’Neill of SuLu Solutions and Peter Oakes of Fintech Ireland we issued the first Registered Virtual Asset Service Providers - Ireland Map.

Since then the Map has been updated twice to record the registration of addition virtual asset firms registered in Ireland.  We have now updated the Map to Version 3 as at Wednesday 30th August 2023.  That date is the most current run date on the Central Bank of Ireland's register for virtual asset firms.

Welcome MoonPayTechnology Services Limited to the Map.

MoonPay was registered on 15 August 2023 and is registered for service number (ii), the exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets.

MoonPay joins other registered virtual asset firms including Coinbase Europe Limited, Coinbase Custody International Limited, Gemini Intergalactic Europe Limited, Zodia Custody Ireland Limited, Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited, NoFrixion Ireland Limited and Pionex Ireland Limited.  Some of these crypto firms also hold an electronic money authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland.

MoonPay's local board of directors (according to Companies Registration Office records) are Maximilian (Max)  Crown (Co-Founder & CFO) and Ivan Soto-Wright (Co-Founder CEO).  Max is also a director of other MoonPay entities in the UK, Malta and USA.

MoonPay, was launched in 2019 to allow people to buy and sell Non-Fungible Tokens. It is backed by celebrities such as Justin Bieber and Gwyneth Paltrow. In a statement to the Irish Independent, the company said it has now established a presence in Ireland. “MoonPay [now] has a team in Ireland. We also expect our headcount to grow in line with business demands and to ensure we remain in compliance with our regulatory obligations,” it said.

MoonPay builds payment infrastructure for crypto and has about 500 industry partners ranging from crypto wallets to layer-1 and layer-2 blockchains, Abhay Mavalankar, VP of corporate development and investments said. The company is valued at $3.4 billion, has more than 5 million customers and supports over 80 assets, according to its website.

At the end of August 2023, MoonPay launched MoonPay Ventures an investment arm that will focus on early-stage startups in web3, gaming and adjacent fintech categories (reported  by Jacquelyn Melinek in TechCrunch).  The investment arm, dubbed MoonPay Ventures, will mainly invest between $100,000 to $1 million, targeting seed and Series A rounds. It has already invested in more than 25 companies, including BCB Group, Ledger, BRUT, BeatClub, absolute labs, Create/OS, BridgeTower Capital and Mythical Games, according to MoonPa's Abhay Mavalankar.

There isn’t a specific fund amount that MoonPay is allocating, and the team will invest off its balance sheet with a “definite angle” toward commercial ROI.  “When it comes to web3 and backing exceptional founders, this is a logical extension of that,” Mavalankar said.

BTW, Fintech Ireland and Peter Oakes are supporting MiCA Ready which tracks materially important EU news on MiCA and Digital Assets Africa. 

Don't forget to check out our Fintech Ireland Crypto Page.

Previous editions of the Map.

• Version 1 April 2023 Blog here
• Version 2 July 2023 Blog here