The company behind the lending DeFi protocol Aave has received an electronic money institution licence in the United Kingdom.
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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) одобрило the application on July 7. The licence allows the recipient to provide payment services and issue digital money alternatives.
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Founder and CEO Stani Kulechov рассказал The Block that the company first submitted the application back in 2018.
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“The aim was to help the Aave ecosystem integrate payment accounts and attract new users. The electronic money institution licence is the same permission that Coinbase and Revolut have in Europe,” he noted.
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With the licence, users will be able to buy stablecoins and other digital assets with fiat, and then use these funds within the Aave protocol. Testing of new capabilities will take place in the United Kingdom, after which it will expand to Europe and the rest of the world.
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The project plans to obtain additional licences in the future. Kulechov noted that governance of the protocol should be fully decentralised, though regulator approvals are necessary for its broad adoption.
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He added that the company continues work on issuing governance tokens for the protocol to enhance its decentralisation. Smart-contract audits are underway at present.
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The Aave protocol ranks first by total value locked, according to DeFiPulse. In the last 24 hours, the metric rose by 6.67%, reaching $1.47 billion. Maker fell to second place with $1.45 billion.
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In mid-July, the project raised $3 million in investments from Framework Ventures and Three Arrows Capital.
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