The Central Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal) has recently granted operating licenses to the local crypto exchanges for the very first time. Mind the Coin and Criptoloja are the two exchanges that have been granted allowances and are now classed as virtual assets service providers.

Central Bank of Portugal Classifies Criptoloja and Mind The Coin as VASPs

Following the recent announcement by the Central Bank of Portugal, Criptoloja and Mind the Coin has been classified as the only two virtual assets service providers issued on their official website.

Well, this is not a sudden decision as the decision of the Central Bank of Portugal has been nine months in the making and Criptoloja has recently made their initial registration back in the month of September of the year 2020.

The license provides permission to Criptoloja and Mind the Coin to execute the exchange services between the fiat currencies and virtual assets. 

As witnessed throughout history, Portugal has been considered one of the most crypto-favoring countries in Europe.

In addition to this, Jean Galea, the investor, and blogger revealed back in the month of May that the nation is on the path of becoming a haven for all the individuals who are involved in the crypto space due to the exemption of VAT and taxes on the capital gains in the country.

Tehran Government Prohibits IBA Following Several Accusations

The Tehran government has reportedly blocked all the activities of the Iran Blockchain Association, IBA, on Sunday following the various accusations including that the association was executing operations against its own articles of association.

Along with this, the IBA was ordered to submit explained reports about how it is doing financially and its activities to the Social Affairs Organization of Iran.

In response to this, the Head of the IBA, Sepehr Mohammadi said that the newly issued notice was neither received by the association nor its board members. He commented:

“Obviously, vested interests will do anything to stop IBA’s efforts. They managed to publicize the notice before IBA was informed.”