Crypto license in Cyprus: MiCA CASP requirements (2026)

Yes. To provide crypto-asset services in Cyprus you need a MiCA CASP authorisation (Crypto-Asset Service Provider), supervised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Title V.

The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

An application fee of roughly €5,000–€25,000, plus ongoing supervisory fees.

Typically about 40 working days of substantive review; 1–3 months for a well-prepared application.

The application file centres on programme of operations describing each crypto-asset service you will provide; business plan with three-year financial projections; evidence of prudential safeguards (own funds or qualifying insurance); governance arrangements, organisational chart and internal-control description; plus fit-and-proper evidence for directors and qualifying shareholders.

Incorporate a legal entity with a registered office in the member state, with at least one director resident in the EU. Build the application file: programme of operations, business plan, governance, AML/CFT, ICT resilience and client-asset segregation. The authority then assesses the file and, once authorised, you can begin operating.

Yes — a single MiCA CASP licence passports across all 27 EU member states.

MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) applies directly in Cyprus. CySEC is the designated competent authority for CASP authorisation, supervision, and enforcement; the Central Bank of Cyprus is competent for e-money token issuers.

CySEC has formally set 27 February 2026 as the deadline for incumbent CASPs to file MiCA licence applications. Firms that miss the deadline must submit a wind-down plan; national-regime services may continue only until 1 July 2026 or earlier decision on the application.

Since 2021, CASPs providing services in or from Cyprus must register on the CySEC CASP Register under the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law of 2007 (as amended), requiring local substance, fit-and-proper directors and AML/CFT compliance.

Effective 1 January 2026, profits from the disposal of crypto-assets (sale for fiat, crypto-to-crypto swaps, payments in crypto, NFT sales) are subject to a dedicated 8% flat income tax; mere holding is untaxed; mining is taxed under general income tax rules; no separate capital gains tax applies.

A MiCA authorisation granted by CySEC passports across the EEA. Several major firms (e.g. Revolut) have been authorised in Cyprus, and CySEC's chair has positioned the jurisdiction as an early leader in MiCA implementation.

Non-financial-instrument crypto-assets fall under MiCA white-paper/disclosure rules; tokens qualifying as transferable securities fall under the EU Prospectus Regulation (national threshold for prospectus exemption raised to EUR 5,000,000). Cyprus has no separate dedicated ICO/STO statute beyond these regimes.