De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the central bank of the Netherlands, has announced new rules for cryptocurrency firms in the country. It will thus start regulating cryptocurrency firms from January.

According to the central bank of Netherlands, the cryptocurrency firms will have to register with local authorities by January of next year if they wish to stay in business. Additionally, the DNB would assess the board members of these firms as well as some shareholders (qualifying holdings). The new rules governing the nascent industry would mostly pertain to anti-money laundering and terrorist financing. The Dutch regulator will regulate the cryptocurrency industry using the fifth European anti-money laundering directive. Last year the EU introduced this wide set of regulations. According to the speculations, people will welcome these new set of regulations that will govern the digital asset markets.

There was a lack of regulatory scrutiny in the country. This thus meant that the banks were often extremely reluctant to work with any company that deals with cryptocurrency. This is because the banks feared the massive anti-money laundering fines.

The official DNB website has a page dedicated to “cryptos”. It urges businesses and consumers to be aware of the risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies as per the source.