Crypto-focused prime brokerage business Hidden Road announced on Tuesday that it has acquired a license from the Dutch regulator to operate under the European Union’s (EU) Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR).
Currently Hidden Road is one of only four firms to have received approval for the license from the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), the Netherlands’ financial regulator.
MiCAR has been in the works for a couple of years but went live at the start of this year. It provides a means by which financial regulators in the EU can govern different facets of the digital assets industry. That includes how cryptocurrencies are traded and issued.
Hidden Road is building up a set of licences globally. The company already has investment firm and crypto licences in the UK and is registered as a Futures Commission Merchant (‘FCM’) over in the US.
In a statement, the prime broker said it will be looking to add more licences in the near future in the US, Middle East, and Asia.
“Our licenses and registrations around the world demonstrate our commitment to serve our counterparties across traditional and digital assets in a transparent, regulated manner,” said Michael Higgins, International CEO and Global Head of Corporate Development for Hidden Road. “We welcome the new MiCAR license and embrace the clarity it provides our European clients.”
