Upcoming cryptocurrency exchange Gate US said it has received operating licenses in “several” states, bringing it closer to launching services in the United States.

The exchange is a separate U.S. entity owned by Lin Han, the founder and president of the fourth-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Gate.io.

Han announced in a Dec. 19 statement that Gate US is now registered as a money services business with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) — the country’s money laundering and financial crimes watchdog.

He added the exchange “obtained some money transmission licenses or similar to operate, and is currently working to obtain more.”

A spokesperson for Gate.io confirmed to Cointelegraph the exchange received licenses in Arizona, Georgia, and Mississippi along with written confirmations from other states confirming Gate US doesn't require a license.

Gate US is yet to accept users from the country at this stage. Its terms of use, however, states it will not be available to residents in New York, Hawaii and the territory of Puerto Rico.

The exchange is slated to provide services to both retail and institutional users when it opens for U.S. customers.

It joins the likes of other top exchanges by volume registered in the U.S. such as Coinbase, Kraken, Binance.US and Gemini. Another popular exchange FTX.US, the U.S. arm of FTX, left a void in the market after being swept up in bankruptcy proceedings in early November.

Related: Here’s how centralized exchanges aim to win back users after the FTX collapse

Han said that it had proactively registered as a money services business as it is “committed to regulatory compliance.”

In a Dec. 20 blog post, Gate.io forecasted impending “inevitable” regulatory frameworks to come in 2023, citing the failure of the Terra ecosystem and bankruptcies of crypto platforms Celsius, BlockFi and FTX.

Update (Dec. 21, 3:15 AM UTC): Added response from Gate.io spokesperson.

Update (Dec. 27, 5:35 AM UTC): Removed incorrect references to Gate.io being a parent company of Gate US.