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One of Europe’s oldest digital currency exchanges is cutting its ties with the United Kingdom in the face of Brexit uncertainties. Bitstamp is now migrating its European clients’ accounts from London to Luxembourg.
The exchange is moving the accounts from Bitstamp Limited, founded in 2012 and based in London, to Bitstamp Europe SA, an entity founded in 2016 and based in Luxembourg. Citing an email circulated by the exchange, news outlet TrustNodes reported that the exchange had been planning the move for months now.
Part of the email stated, “In order to comply with our regulatory requirements and improve our operational efficiency, we are migrating the accounts of our customers from Bitstamp Limited to Bitstamp Europe SA., our business entity based in Luxembourg.”
The exchange assured its European users that its services wouldn’t be affected by the move. Once the migration is complete, the exchange will alert the users.
“Once this process is finished, your account will be subject to Bitstamp Europe SA’s Terms of Use and our updated Privacy Policy. For more details, please review the full documents,” the exchange told its users.
Despite the move from London, Bitstamp will still be serving U.K. users.
The migration is reportedly related to Brexit uncertainties. With the exit, Britain has forced many global companies to rethink their European operations. Traditionally, the country has been the most strategic for major companies seeking to expand in the region. However, the exit is changing this, with recent reports revealing that over 275 companies are already in the process of shifting operations to other European countries.
Brexit’s effect on the digital currency industry remains to be seen. Some experts have predicted that the uncertainty it causes could drive demand for digital currencies, much like the economic crisis in Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Argentina or the U.S-China trade war. However, its effect so far has been minimal.
The biggest effect might be on exchanges, trading platforms and other digital currency companies. In the past, a U.K. license opened the door to the rest of the continent for fintech companies. However, with Brexit, this will change and in the future, the specific laws governing the industry might differ between Britain and the rest of the EU. This will affect many companies which have targeted Britain as the entry into the rest of Europe, such as American exchanges Coinbase and Gemini.
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