Portugal without a Supervisory Authority for Crypto Asset Providers

Articles 17/01/2025

With the entry into force on 30 December 2024 of the European Regulation for cryptoassets, known as MiCA (Markets in Cryptoassets), the provision of services with cryptoassets in the European Union is now subject to authorisation to be granted by the authority designated as competent by each Member State.

To date, the national legislation implementing the MiCA Regulation has not been published, and therefore the competent authority(ies) for authorising and supervising providers of cryptoasset services, which until then was the responsibility of the Bank of Portugal, has yet to be designated.

In this sense, and following the statement issued by the Bank of Portugal, in the exercise of its powers in the context of combating money laundering and terrorist financing, entities that, up until 30 December, had not initiated, communicated and registered activity with the Bank of Portugal are, for the time being, prohibited from carrying out activities with virtual assets.

In fact, the MiCA Regulation provides for a transitional regime that allows cryptoasset service providers, who were already operating on 30 December, to continue to do so until 1 July 2026 – and the Government may decide not to apply or reduce the duration of the transitional regime, if it considers that the previous national regulatory framework is less rigorous than the MiCA Regulation – or, before that date, if in the meantime they are granted or refused authorisation by the (future) competent authority.

In fact, until there are developments in the legal framework, that is, the designation of the authority competent for authorising cryptoasset service providers – which may even end up being the Bank of Portugal – and the definition of the application (and respective terms) of the transitional regime, the application of the MiCA in Portugal means that entities will live in a climate of uncertainty.


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Practice Areas

  • Intellectual Property

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