Crypto licensing guides
Which licence you need, what it costs, and how long it takes
Authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. Apply once in your home member state and passport across all 27 EU countries. Around 280 CASPs have been authorised since…
The UK's new full authorisation regime for cryptoasset firms, created by the FSMA 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 with final FCA rules published 30 June 2026 (PS26/9–PS26/13). It covers dealing as principal or ag…
Dubai's dedicated virtual asset licence, covering all zones except the DIFC. One regulator, one application process, with seven activity categories — Advisory, Broker-Dealer, Custody, Exchange, Lending & Borrowing, VA…
Hong Kong's licensing regime for virtual asset trading platforms, in force since June 2023. Platforms apply for SFO Type 1 and Type 7 licences and the AMLO VASP licence simultaneously — the SFC strongly encourages the…
Hong Kong's licensing regime for fiat-referenced stablecoin issuers under the Stablecoins Ordinance, in force since August 2025, with the first licences granted in April 2026 to Anchorpoint and HSBC. The regime has an…
Singapore licenses digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act as either a Standard Payment Institution (below monthly thresholds) or Major Payment Institution. A separate DTSP regime under FSMA 2022…
Japan registers crypto-asset exchange providers under the Payment Services Act through a substantive FSA examination run with the JVCEA self-regulatory layer. The regime is being restructured: the FIEA amendment passe…
Australia's licensing story runs on two tracks. Now: digital asset financial products (stablecoins, wrapped tokens, tokenised securities, some wallets per updated INFO 225) need an AFSL, with ASIC's sector-wide no-act…
The federal baseline nearly every US crypto business needs. Exchangers and administrators of convertible virtual currency are money transmitters under FinCEN's 2019 guidance — crypto-to-crypto counts the same as crypt…
The marquee US state crypto licence, in force since 2015 and among the most rigorous in the country. The application fee is $5,000, but capital is set case-by-case by NYDFS under 23 NYCRR 200.8 — there is no fixed num…
The 49-state problem: US money transmission is licensed state by state, and most crypto businesses serving US customers nationally need a stack of them. The patchwork is becoming a grid — roughly 30 states and growing…
The second BitLicense-style state regime in the US: California's Digital Financial Assets Law became fully operative on 1 July 2026, with applications open since 9 March 2026. Firms that filed a complete application b…
Canada runs two layers. The federal AML layer is light: dealing in virtual currency makes you an MSB, registration with FINTRAC is free with no capital requirement, and non-residents are eligible as Foreign MSBs. The…
One of the first crypto licensing regimes in the Middle East, running since February 2019 under the CBB's CRA Module with four ascending categories: advisory (Category 1), agent trading, custody and portfolio manageme…
Switzerland has no single crypto licence — the guide's core point. Most exchanges, OTC desks and wallet providers enter via SRO membership under the AMLA, with only company-law capital and a two-to-three-month admissi…
Formally a registration, functionally one of the hardest doors in the world to open. There is no statutory capital number — the barriers are ISMS certification from KISA (six to eight months on its own) and, for fiat…