“We’re creating a crypto platform” isn’t a clear enough description for a regulatory application.

Can users convert cryptocurrency into fiat? Will the platform be able to move virtual assets? The company will be able to control clients’ wallets or private keys? Are they managing a lending platform for digital assets and issuing tokens, or overseeing a trading system?

Those differences matter when pursuing cryptocurrency licenses in Georgia due to the services that a business plans to offer will impact its preparation for regulatory compliance documents, controls, and capital requirements.

Georgia is a great place for fintech companies, but to be able to access its controlled virtual asset market is more than just registering your business and building a website.

First, you need to define the service.

Businesses offering virtual asset services to third-party clients as per the guidelines in PB Services must register with the National Bank of Georgia as Virtual Asset Service Providers.

Within the scope are things like virtual transfer and exchange of assets and managing trading platforms and custody or management of cryptocurrency. The information on regulation states that the concept of custody extends to the administration of the client’s private keys or wallet.

That makes the technical design of a product in the crypto space pertinent to its legal status.

A founder interested in obtaining a crypto license in Georgia should therefore map the proposed customer journey before preparing the application. What happens when a user deposits money? Who manages the wallet? Can assets be exchanged, or transferred? Which person is authorized authorise transactions?

A clear understanding of the answers is helpful to understand what the firm is actually doing.

Your Business Plan Must Describe an actual company

A VASP application also requires more than a beautiful pitch deck.

According to the information provided in the report, according to the information provided, National Bank requires a detailed business plan that contains financial projections for a minimum period of three years. These include income, expense, as well as growth expectations. The plan must also prove the intention to conduct business within Georgia.

It is important to address this issue as quickly as you can.

A business plan that is written to be used by investors will answer the following questions: How quickly can the company grow? The business plan that is regulated must explain how the business will operate responsibly.

For companies looking to obtain a vasp licence Georgia applicants must be able to connect the commercial model with the compliance model instead of treating them as unrelated documents.

AML cannot be added at the conclusion

PB Services describes the preparation as a set of steps that include anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls.

The information warns explicitly that the importation of an AML Policy from another country will not be enough as Georgian regulations must be integrated into the company’s structure.

Additionally, the operational systems are crucial. The business plan should demonstrate that the system of the company is able to detect any suspicious transactions or those that may be related to them.

Compliance must be a consideration in product development. By building a platform and then deciding on the way AML can be implemented and how it will work, you could cause inefficient delays and have to redesign.

The services you choose to use can Impact Your Capital

Regulatory capital is another reason to establish the business model earlier.

Based on the requirements set in the sources Transfer and exchange operations which include kiosks, are required to be 150,000 GEL. Management of a trading platform for trading needs 350,000 GEL and other covered services require 250,000 GEL. The highest threshold is required for multiple services.

This is different from operating capital or investment capital. Evidence that the required amount is actually financed is required with the application and the capital should remain in operation throughout its duration.

Anyone who wants to get a the crypto blockchain license in Georgia is advised to consider the possibility of regulatory capital in financial planning not until the rest of the application has been completed.

Registration is not the end of compliance work

The approval is not the point where the compliance calendar disappears. The guidelines outline continuing obligations in cybersecurity and risk management, technology resilience and fraud risk, and the retention of records, independent reviews and customer complaints.

For example, an independent auditor’s opinion regarding the risk-management system must be obtained within 12 months of registration. Businesses must also follow the guidelines described regarding handling complaints. They are required to accept complaints, regardless of whether they’re written, oral or electronic, to look over them in a maximum one-month period, and also to submit statistics on complaints electronically to National Bank every month.

These details affect the way serious applicants must apply for licensing.

Think of the Georgian VASP as a style for a company, rather than a set of forms that need to be filled out.

A company’s structure, business model, and technological capabilities, AML controls as well the procedures for risk, capital requirements and customer service processes have to be coherent.

Georgia continues to provide opportunities for crypto and fintech businesses, and its regulation framework gives businesses a clearly defined path to market. The best way to begin is not by asking what speed a license is going to be issued.

It is essential to define in detail the goals of your business’s crypto-related activities will be and show that you’re ready to comply with Georgia’s regulations.