What a CASP does under MiCA
MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, lists ten crypto-asset services in Article 3. An authorisation names each service the CASP may provide, and adding one means asking the authority to extend it.
- Custody and administration of crypto-assets for clients
- Operating a trading platform for crypto-assets
- Exchanging crypto-assets for funds, or for other crypto-assets
- Executing client orders, or receiving and transmitting them
- Placing crypto-assets, advice and portfolio management
- Transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
How a firm becomes a CASP
A firm applies to the authority of the EU member state where it has its registered office. MiCA asks for a registered office in a member state where the firm provides at least part of its services, effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU. The authority has 25 working days to check that an application is complete, then 40 working days to decide.
A CASP holds the higher of a permanent minimum and a quarter of the previous year's fixed overheads. The minimum is EUR 50,000 for services such as executing orders, transfers and advice, EUR 125,000 once custody or exchange is added, and EUR 150,000 for a trading platform.
Some regulated firms, banks and investment firms among them, may notify their authority instead of applying. An e-money institution may do so only for custody and transfers of the e-money tokens it issues.
What changed for CASPs in 2026
MiCA has applied to CASPs since 30 December 2024. Firms already operating under national law could continue until 1 July 2026 at the latest, and member states could shorten that period.
In a statement of 17 April 2026, ESMA, the EU's markets authority, said that the transitional period would expire across the EU on 1 July 2026, and that after that date a firm providing crypto-asset services to EU clients without a MiCA authorisation would be in breach of EU law.
The UK has its own regime: the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 come fully into force on 25 October 2027.
CASP or VASP?
- VASP
- Virtual asset service provider, the Financial Action Task Force's term for a business that exchanges, transfers or safeguards virtual assets for others. The FATF asks countries to license or register VASPs against money laundering. A CASP is the EU's fuller regime, with capital, conduct rules and a passport.
- VASP registration in the EU
- Before MiCA, crypto firms in the EU operated under national rules, often an anti-money laundering registration as a VASP. MiCA let them continue on that basis only until 1 July 2026 at the latest.
- VASP in Dubai
- In the rules of VARA, Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, a VASP is an entity that VARA has licensed to carry out virtual asset activities in the emirate.
- E-money institution
- Licensed to issue e-money and provide payment services, not crypto-asset services. Under MiCA, an e-money institution may notify its authority only for custody and transfers of e-money tokens it issues.
Where a CASP shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- Custody & walletsWallets on every major chain, with MPC custody from leading providers or your own keys.
- Matching engineA low-latency order book for spot markets, with market makers and outside liquidity.
- KYC / AMLIdentity checks, screening and ongoing monitoring, with the verification provider you choose.
- Compliance reportingTransaction monitoring, the Travel Rule and regulatory reports, ready for your regulator.
Platforms that need it
Guides that go deeper
- MiCA checklist: launching a crypto exchange in the EUWhat the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation asks of an exchange: authorisation, capital, governance, client assets, the trading platform rules, and the laws that sit beside it.
- What a crypto exchange licence costs: fees and capital by regulatorThe application fee, the yearly fee and the capital a crypto exchange needs under MiCA, the FCA, VARA, ADGM and the DFSA, as each regulator publishes them, and when each falls due.
- VARA licence for a crypto exchange in DubaiWhat Dubai's virtual assets regulator asks of a crypto exchange: the two-stage licence, the rulebooks, capital and fees as VARA publishes them, local staff and the Travel Rule.
- FCA cryptoasset registration: what UK crypto firms needWhat FCA registration under the Money Laundering Regulations asks of a UK crypto business, how crypto promotions are controlled, and what changes on 25 October 2027.
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, MiCA (EUR-Lex)
- ESMA, Statement on the end of transitional periods under MiCA, 17 April 2026
- The FATF Recommendations, with the Glossary's definition of a virtual asset service provider (FATF)
- VARA, Virtual Assets and Related Activities Regulations 2023, Schedule 4, Definitions
- The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026, regulation 1 (legislation.gov.uk)
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.