Alchemy Pay continues to expand in the U.S. and is now licensed to transmit money in Iowa.
Cryptocurrency payment gateway Alchemy Pay has obtained a money services license in Iowa as part of its plans to expand broadly into the United States. Obtaining a license complies with local state laws that require individuals or entities operating a money transfer or currency exchange business to obtain a license.
Speaking with Cointelegraph about the license, the head of the Alchemy Pay ecosystem emphasized the need for proper regulation and confirmed Alchemy Pay’s commitment to compliance.
“We believe that a well-structured regulatory environment is essential for sustainable growth and development of any industry. This includes the fiat-to-crypto payments industry.”
Alchemy Pay is available in 173 countries and supports a variety of payment methods, including Master Card, Visa, domestic remittance, and local mobile wallets. The executive expressed his belief in cryptocurrency payments, calling them potentially “the leading sector of the future.”
McCracken went on to express Alchemy Pay’s intention to continue applying for and obtaining licenses across the United States. He acknowledges that although this is more difficult, it is the “ultimately right” path to follow. He said:
“…building core competencies and maintaining the highest level of regulatory compliance are essential to the long-term success of the cryptocurrency payments industry.”
Alchemy Pay also holds licenses in Arkansas and Iowa.
Last September, Alchemy Pay secured a money transfer license from the state of Arkansas. A license issued by the Arkansas Department of Securities allows Alchemy Pay to provide cryptocurrency-related financial services to Arkansans. This license was the payment gateway’s first money transfer license in the United States. By obtaining the license, Alchemy Pay joins other industry players such as MoonPay, Coinbase, and bitFlyer who also hold such licenses.
In addition to the U.S. license, Alchemy Pay is also considering obtaining licenses in other countries such as Hong Kong and the United Kingdom.
Last February, Coinspeaker reported that Alchemy Pay had secured a payments license from Indonesian authorities. Working with local company Berkah Digital Pembayaran, Alchemy Pay has obtained a license from the Central Bank of Indonesia to process remittances and fund transfers. Alchemy Pay hopes to compete with domestic transfer services by offering cheaper options in addition to simply processing funds transfers.
Valuation: $400 million
Alchemy Pay successfully raised $10 million in investment funding last April. At the time of the investment, the company was valued at $400 million, according to a press release. The press release also included details about the NFT Checkout service, which will allow users to purchase NFTs using fiat payment options. In supported regions, anyone can purchase NFTs using local fiat currency.
On Monday, the company joined the Stellar ecosystem as a new provider of driveway and ramp services. This will allow companies and organizations on the Stellar network to use the Alchemy Pay service for fiat-to-crypto conversions. The integration between the two services allows you to easily convert USDC and XLM to fiat. Additionally, developers and decentralized applications (dApps) in the Stellar ecosystem can integrate the easy-to-use Alchemy Pay Ramp plugin and API.
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