IDnow’s recently-released ‘Crypto in KYC – Growth through trust’ ebook helps organizations to better understand the unstable market, and drive customer adoption while complying with regulations.

The unruly world of cryptocurrency could very well rewrite the future of global payments as we know it. As a still largely untapped market, it offers organizations an almost limitless number of opportunities to increase revenue.

Unfortunately, as an unpredictable frontier, cryptocurrency also has its fair share of dangers and hurdles to overcome.

Even though there is no shortage of brands that are accepting payments in cryptocurrency (Think the biggest: from Gucci to KFC), there are many more that are hesitant to enter the market.

But organizations that do not leave any room in their business strategies for launching a crypto KYC solution are probably missing out on millions in revenue.

Despite the uncertainty of 2022, the global cryptocurrency market is still worth around €2 trillion.

Although still in its infancy, the cryptocurrency market is already showing signs of rapid maturity. Download the ‘Crypto in KYC – Growth through trust’ ebook to learn what the emergence of new services like Staking (letting users earn rewards for verifying transactions) and Lending (collecting interest from borrowers) means for the future of cryptocurrency.

Regulating Opportunities

With mature markets comes regulations and laws to govern use. There are also significant differences in regulation across regions and countries, according to a country’s rate and approach to regulatory adoption. Some countries like USA, Canada, and Germany have already started to integrate cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and virtual assets into their financial and anti-money laundering regulations. There are many, such as Malta, which have neither regulations nor restrictions regarding crypto trading. Two major cryptocurrency regulations set to come into play in 2023 and 2024 that are sure to bring some stability to the European crypto market include MiCA and TFR.

Why is KYC in crypto important?

A Know Your Customer (KYC) process is undertaken to verify the identity of a prospective customer or applicant. Check out our ‘3 KYC components every financial institution must follow’ blog to learn more. These steps are typically taken to prove the user is who they say they are, and also as a fraud-prevention measure. For many years, KYC, as part of Anti-Money Laundering measures, has been a legally required step of traditional financial services’ customer onboarding.

Although KYC is not required to use every crypto platform, upcoming regulations like MiCA and TFR is set to bring more accountability and transparency to the crypto space, and crypto exchanges that want to future-proof their operations should adopt KYC procedures before it’s too late. KYC is important in crypto for the same reason it is in traditional financial services. It is integral for identity verification through the obtaining of names, addresses, birth dates, and other pertinent information.

KYC solutions also helps crypto platforms conduct customer monitoring, and perform screening to ensure their customers are not subject to international sanctions or considered a politically exposed person.

Crypto in KYC – Growth through trust

Download the ‘Crypto in KYC – Growth through trust’ ebook to discover the latest industry trends and how upcoming regulatory changes are likely to affect the market, for good and bad.

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Crypto business should see KYC as an opportunity to stand out from the competition, rather than a compliance burden. Utilize KYC to differentiate yourself from unsafe players without KYC, and stand out from the competition by establishing the better KYC and onboarding process.
Francisco Martins, Senior Executive of Financial Services & Crypto/ DeFi at IDnow

“Take the opportunity to proactively implement KYC measures because it is only a question of time until the regulation will enforce it,” added Francisco.

Keen to get started on your crypto journey? There are some essential things you need to know. Our ‘Crypto in KYC – Growth through trust’ will help you get up to speed with what you need to do, the KYC requirements, and how the right KYC solution can benefit your operations.

What can traditional banking learn from crypto exchanges? Check out our Fintech Spotlight Interview with crypto and compliance consultant, Brandi Reynolds, CAMS-Audit, CCI, CCCE at Bates Group.