Announcement to be made at The Future of Money: Central Bank Digital
Currency Conference in Stockholm
REYKJAVIK, Iceland–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Blockchain—Monerium
ehf. has received a license from the Financial Supervisory Authority of
Iceland to issue e-money on blockchains through its subsidiary, Monerium
EMI ehf. The full license is the world’s first e-money license for
blockchains issued under EU e-money regulations. The license is
passportable within the largest global economic zone, the European
Economic Area, and to external jurisdictions subject to regulatory
approval and destination country regulations.
Designed as a digital alternative to cash, e-money is a proven framework
for digital fiat currency already in use for pre-paid cards and mobile
wallets. By issuing e-money on blockchains, Monerium removes the need
for intermediaries and provides the ability to automate financial
transactions in many sectors, including payments, trade finance,
securities settlement, and ecommerce. At the same time, e-money on
blockchains extends Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of online peer-to-peer
currency transactions to a regulated form of digital fiat currency.
Founded in 2015 by four repeat entrepreneurs with experience from
finance and technology, Monerium has received seed investments from
ConsenSys, Crowberry Capital, and private investors. Prior to the
e-money application, the company founders authored a commissioned report
on blockchains and financial services for an European financial
institution and developed a pilot for tokenizing fiat currency in
collaboration with ConsenSys.
Jon Helgi Egilsson, co-founder, chairman and former chairman of the
supervisory board of the Central Bank of Iceland, will announce the
license in Stockholm on June 15 at The Future of Money: Central Bank
Digital Currency Conference, saying, “Monerium e-money encompasses
the benefits of programmable money on blockchain, in addition to being
the closest form of central bank money there is – based on a proven EU
regulatory framework.”
“Receiving an e-money license is a major milestone towards achieving our
goal of making digital currency accessible, secure, and simple to
transact,” states Sveinn Valfells, CEO and co-founder. “To support our
e-money issuance, we have developed a digital banking platform that is
compatible with all leading blockchain protocols and extensible to other
clients and financial services. Our platform is based on open standards
and designed to support decentralized financial applications.”
Monerium is currently entering closed beta with initial customers and
partners. The company plans to partner with distributed application
developers and blockchain platform providers to make e-money available
to consumers and enterprises across borders and protocols.
Together with Monerium CTO and co-founder Gisli Kristjánsson, Valfells
will announce the closed beta and partnership programs at Copenhagen
FinTech Week on June 18th.
About Monerium
Monerium is a financial technology company with the mission of making
digital currency accessible, secure, and simple to transact. Using
Monerium e-money, individuals and non-financial enterprises can store
and send digital currency on blockchains without going through
traditional financial institutions. Monerium was founded in 2015 by a
team with diverse backgrounds, including central banking, finance,
blockchain, and cloud services. The company has raised $2M in funding
from ConsenSys, Crowberry Capital, Hof Holdings, and private investors.
Contacts
For media enquiries:
Chris McClure, +1 (580) 448-2841
[email protected]
