Paybis Secures Dual Licenses from Latvia's Central Bank for Crypto Services

Cryptocurrency platform Paybis has successfully obtained two significant licenses from Latvia's central bank, including one for crypto-asset services under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and another for payment institution operations under the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). According to Cointelegraph, these licenses were granted by the Supervision Committee of Latvijas Banka on May 12 to SIA Paybis Europe, the company's EU entity. Paybis is now the third company in Latvia to receive a MiCA CASP license, as confirmed by the central bank. The MiCA license encompasses custody and administration of crypto assets on behalf of clients, exchange of crypto-assets for funds or other crypto assets, execution of orders, transfer services, and crypto asset advisory, as stated by Latvijas Banka. Additionally, the PSD2 payment institution license allows Paybis's EU entity to execute payments and make transfers to payment accounts. Paybis CEO and co-founder Innokenty Isers highlighted that the dual licensing enables the firm to offer a broad, future-focused range of services, including stablecoin operations. Konstantins Vasilenko, co-founder and chief business development officer of Paybis, explained to Cointelegraph that the company is targeting business clients with a white-label crypto infrastructure stack. This stack includes on/off-ramps, buy/sell/swap, payment acceptance, and stablecoin payouts, all delivered through a single API. This approach allows companies to offer crypto services to their customers without building their own regulated setup. Vasilenko emphasized that the combination of MiCA CASP authorization and PSD2 PI licensing is crucial as it connects crypto asset services with regulated payment rails. Founded in 2014, Paybis supports 90 cryptocurrencies and serves seven million users across 180 countries. It also holds money services business licenses in the US and Canada. Meanwhile, the European Union is considering the evolution of its MiCA crypto regulation. In April, a European Commission adviser indicated that the regulation is likely to evolve, with plans for a public consultation to assess its effectiveness for market participants. Speaking at Paris Blockchain Week 2026, Peter Kerstens noted that it would be unusual if there were no "MiCA 2" eventually, as EU financial legislation typically develops in stages. This discussion arises amid increasing scrutiny and opposition from the crypto industry, with stablecoin issuer Circle challenging euro stablecoin thresholds and policymakers debating centralized supervision of major crypto firms under the European Securities and Markets Authority.