Lirium AG has been approved by the Financial Market Authority (FMA) of Liechtenstein as a blockchain service provider for cryptocurrency exchange services, pricing services, and token depository services.
Offering plug & play cryptocurrency solution for banks, digital wallets and marketplaces, Lirium is now authorized by Liechtenstein to buy and sell cryptocurrencies to customers with either fiat or crypto funds, to set its own prices and be a “market maker” – can always be the counterparty for each end-customer that buys or sells cryptocurrency – and to be a professional custodian of customers’ cryptocurrency funds.
Lirium caters to Neobanks and FinTechs who already provide financial services to their customers and plan to add cryptocurrency to their product offerings.
Its free plug & play solution covers all-encompassing regulatory, technical, operational and security needs, which allows partners not to manage liquidity or security aspects, crypto custody or even understand how to manage blockchain transactions.
Clients – banks, digital wallets and marketplaces around the globe – will be able to offer customers the ability to buy, sell, receive, send and store cryptocurrencies in their own mobile apps through an easy integration at the backend level, while keeping full ownership and control of their customer experience.
Lirium, as an authorized and regulated entity, must meet very stringent European compliance and legal standards with respect to Information Security, Governance, Customer Funds Safeguarding and Customer Rights.
Lirium’s FMA-regulated solution is subject to ongoing external audits and supervisory oversight, and operates under European standards on customer rights, privacy, security and access to information about Lirium’s activities. Liechtenstein is integrated into the European System of Financial Supervision.
The team behind Lirium is the one that built Xapo, one of the first and most successful Bitcoin wallets in the world: Coinbase acquired Xapo’s institutional custody business for $55 million in 2019.
Federico Murrone, the Founder & CEO of Lirium, said: “We take client trust and reliability of our services very seriously, which is why Lirium is committed to state-of-the-art security, funds safeguarding, data protection and fraud prevention standards.
“We have worked closely with the FMA of Liechtenstein to satisfactorily complete the assessment process and it is with huge pride that we announce the formal approval. Our Chief Operating Officer Martin Kopacz, who was previously the Chief Compliance Officer of Xapo and our Chief Compliance Officer Yana Afanasieva, who has vast regulatory experience gained with PayPal, Amazon, BitFlyer and other industry leaders, made this happen. This brings us closer to achieving our goal of making it simple and convenient for people around the world to have access to crypto through the apps they already use for their daily needs.”
Murrone is a co-founder of Xapo and served as its COO until 2020, when he decided to found Lirium. “We are bridging the gap between services offered by the growing numbers of Neobanks and digital wallets and the ever-evolving cryptocurrency services. Both of these industries in recent years have changed the way how regular people around the globe use money, and it’s about time to combine these services and better meet the needs of common customers.”
