Crypto exchange Rtcoin not licensed in Germany, BaFin says

Germany’s financial regulator BaFin warned that crypto exchange platform Rtcoin is not authorized to operate in the country, in a statement issued on Friday.

BaFin said that Rtcoin was not registered under KWG to conduct financial-related services in the country. KWG, or “Kreditwesengesetz,” is Germany’s Bank Act that guides the operations of entities providing banking and financial services. Crypto exchange platforms operating in Germany also fall under the scope of these regulations.

“The company is not supervised by BaFin,” today’s announcement said, adding: “The information provided on the company’s website, rtcoin.org, gives reasonable grounds to suspect that RtCoin is conducting banking business and providing financial services in Germany without the required authorization.”

The crypto exchange platform’s website lists German as one of its eight service languages. Rtcoin bills itself as the “world’s leading digital asset trading platform.” The company’s website says that it is registered in the Cayman Islands and maintains operation centers in four jurisdictions, including the UK.

Rtcoin does not, however, appear in the Financial Conduct Authority’s list of registered companies or firms with temporary registration in the UK. The crypto exchange is not even present in the FCA’s list of unregistered crypto companies, which details firms operating in the UK that the FCA is aware of but which have not registered with the regulatory agency.