Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has secured a Payment Institution license in Malta. The authorization falls under the European Union’s payments framework and aligns OKX’s payment services with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and the Second Payment Services Directive.

The PI license follows OKX’s MiCA license, granted by the Malta Financial Services Authority in January last year.

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The MiCA license allows the company to offer localized services to customers across the European Union through passporting. EU users can access regulated crypto exchange products, including OTC trading, spot trading, bot and copy trading, and more than 240 cryptocurrency tokens across 300 trading pairs.

OKX Faces AML Fine Post-MiCA

Also last year, OKX was fined €1.1 million by Malta’s Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit for anti‑money‑laundering failures in 2023. The FIAU said that while OKX had improved its AML policies, its business risk assessment did not fully address risks from cryptocurrency mixers, privacy coins, stablecoins, and decentralized exchanges.

The fine indicates that the MiCA license does not exempt the company from past compliance Compliance In finance, banking, investing, and insurance compliance refers to following the rules or orders set down by the government regulatory authority, either as providing a service or processing a transaction. Compliance concerning finance would also be a state of being following established guidelines or specifications. This designation can also encompass efforts to ensure that organizations are abiding by both industry regulations and government legislation. Understanding ComplianceCompliance is a In finance, banking, investing, and insurance compliance refers to following the rules or orders set down by the government regulatory authority, either as providing a service or processing a transaction. Compliance concerning finance would also be a state of being following established guidelines or specifications. This designation can also encompass efforts to ensure that organizations are abiding by both industry regulations and government legislation. Understanding ComplianceCompliance is a Read this Term issues. The company also announced its acquisition of a MiFIDII‑licensed entity in the same year.

Malta PI License Covers OKX Pay

On the new license, OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos said that “securing a Payment Institution license ensures that these products operate on a fully compliant footing.” He added that “Europe has chosen clarity over ambiguity when it comes to digital asset regulation” and that stablecoins can improve cross‑border efficiency and reduce friction in payments Payments One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl One of the bases of mediums of exchange in the modern world, a payment constitutes the transfer of a legal currency or equivalent from one party in exchange for goods or services to another entity. The payments industry has become a fixture of modern commerce, though the players involved and means of exchange have dramatically shifted over time.In particular, a party making a payment is referred to as a payer, with the payee reflecting the individual or entity receiving the payment. Most commonl Read this Term, “but only if built within strong regulatory guardrails.”

The PI license will cover products including OKX Pay and the OKX Card, which allow users to spend crypto assets and stablecoins. The OKX Card, launched in late January, supports stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC and the Paxos-issued Global Dollar.