Europe’s first blockchain financial institution opens for pre-registration

Benker is set to become the first ever licensed blockchain financial institution in Europe following an approval by the Bank of Lithuania.

Benker – which was approved under the Electronic Money Institution category – is now open for pre-registration is the first financial services provider in the EU to operate entirely on blockchain.

According to Benker, the financial institution will run on Natrix, which is a purpose-built hybrid blockchain developed for the financial sector to meet all GDPR, bank secrecy and regulatory requirements.

The firm said users of Benkers ‘will achieve the highest level of compliant client autonomy, where users have complete control, autonomy and real freedom, assuring sustainability of the market where users and financial market participants are on the same level’.

Benker will provide services for both individuals as well as small and medium sized enterprises, as well as a platform to buy and sell gold.

Benker CEO Viktor Bodnár said, “We’re introducing a new brand in financial services that can challenge the established order by extending existing legal and regulatory safeguards with the advanced technology-based guarantees achieved through blockchain. In obtaining our EMI licence we have been allowed to radically diminish client exposure to the actors of financial markets, and I see this as a move towards the ‘New World Order’.

“By adding blockchain to the way in which customer accounts are managed securely, we are offering constant transparency, traceability and complete control over financial matters for our clients, creating the highest level of freedom. This is what we’re calling Compliant Client Autonomy and it’s an idea that is at the heart of Benker.

“We’ve worked hard to create a fully compliant and secure blockchain financial institution, and I’m delighted that it is now going live in 2022. The result is a system in which clients and service providers are finally on the same level, and within all legal and regulatory requirements. This will make managing personal finances in the future more efficient than ever.”

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