European Bitcoin brokers call for regulation

The latest calls to regulate the exploding cryptocurrency market come from an unusual place.

Some of Europe’s largest digital-coin brokers, who would be saddled with the new rules, are actually asking for them in a bid to clear the air and shake off perceptions they help criminals transfer money. Firms such as eToro Europe Ltd. in London and Bitpanda GmbH in Vienna say clear, “know your customer” rules would let trading platforms go mainstream more easily, gain clients and eventually tap institutional business.

“We’d be happy to have regulations, so we know where we stand,” said Eric Demuth, the 31-year-old co-chief executive officer of Bitpanda in Vienna, who said he meets frequently with potential regulators at Austria’s Finance Ministry. Moving into loosely regulated jurisdictions like Malta or Gibraltar isn’t interesting because “it doesn’t look good,” he said.

Pursuing transparency may seem ironic in a digital-coin market that mushroomed in the shadows…