Crypto & Digital Assets · Czechia
Crypto license in Czechia: MiCA CASP requirements (2026)
Czechia shaded by its crypto & digital assets status
Crypto is regulated in Czechia.
FrameworkEU Regulation 2023/1114 (MiCA) + Czech Act No. 31/2025 Coll. on the Digitalisation of the Financial Market (Digital Finance Act, in force 15 Feb 2025); supervised by the Czech National Bank (CNB), with AML/CFT under the Czech AML Act (No. 253/2008 Coll.) and the Financial Analytical Office (FAÚ)
Czechia is an EU member state where crypto-assets are legal and now comprehensively regulated under MiCA, transposed via the Digital Finance Act (Act No. 31/2025 Coll.) in force since 15 February 2025. The Czech National Bank is the competent authority for crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorisations, white-paper notifications and stablecoin issuer supervision, and issued its first six CASP authorisations on 11 February 2026 out of 248 applications received. AML/CFT compliance is supervised by the FAÚ, and a 2025 tax reform exempts long-term crypto holdings (>3 years) from personal income tax up to CZK 40 million.
How to get a crypto license in Czechia
To provide crypto-asset services in Czechia you need a MiCA CASP authorisation (Crypto-Asset Service Provider), supervised by the Czech National Bank (ČNB), under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Title V.
- Authority
- the Czech National Bank (ČNB)
- License required
- a MiCA CASP authorisation (Crypto-Asset Service Provider)
- Framework / law
- the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Title V
- Minimum capital
- €50,000–€150,000 minimum, by service class (Class 1/2/3)
- Timeline
- about 40 working days of substantive review; 1–3 months for a well-prepared application
- Cost
- an application fee of roughly €5,000–€25,000, plus ongoing supervisory fees
- Passporting
- Yes — a single MiCA CASP licence passports across all 27 EU member states.
What a crypto license in Czechia covers
- 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 orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
- Reception and transmission of orders, and placing of crypto-assets
- Advice and portfolio management on crypto-assets
- Transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
How to get a crypto license in Czechia: step by step
- 1Incorporate a legal entity with a registered office in the member state, with at least one director resident in the EU.
- 2Build the application file: programme of operations, business plan, governance, AML/CFT, ICT resilience and client-asset segregation.
- 3Submit the application to the national competent authority.
- 4Completeness check: the authority has 25 working days to confirm the file is complete and request anything missing.
- 5Substantive assessment: the authority has 40 working days to grant or refuse the authorisation.
- 6Once authorised, notify the passport to the host member states you intend to serve, then begin operating across the EU.
Documents required in Czechia
- 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
- AML/CFT policies and the appointment of a compliance officer
- ICT security, business-continuity and DORA-aligned resilience policies
- Custody and client-asset segregation arrangements
- Complaints-handling procedure and conflict-of-interest policy
- Fit-and-proper evidence for directors and qualifying shareholders (CVs, criminal-record certificates)
After authorisation: ongoing obligations in Czechia
- Maintain prudential safeguards and own funds at or above the class minimum
- Keep client crypto-assets segregated from the firm's own assets
- Run continuous AML/CFT monitoring, screening and suspicious-activity reporting
- Keep marketing communications fair, clear and not misleading
- Operate complaints handling and manage conflicts of interest
- Meet ICT resilience and incident-reporting duties under DORA
- File periodic reports to the national competent authority
Crypto license in Czechia: FAQ
Yes. To provide crypto-asset services in Czechia you need a MiCA CASP authorisation (Crypto-Asset Service Provider), supervised by the Czech National Bank (ČNB), under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Title V.
The Czech National Bank (ČNB).
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.
Key points
Act No. 31/2025 Coll. (Digital Finance Act) entered into force on 15 February 2025, designating the CNB as competent authority for MiCA and providing adaptation rules for issuers, offerors and CASPs.
The Czech National Bank receives MiCA notifications and applications, supervises CASPs, ART/EMT issuers, public offerings and the broader crypto-asset market, and exercises enforcement powers.
CASPs that lawfully provided services under a Czech trade licence before 30 December 2024 may continue under the transitional regime until 1 July 2026, provided they filed a MiCA licence application by 31 July 2025.
On 11 February 2026 the CNB announced it had received 248 MiCA applications (one of the highest counts in the EU) and granted the first six CASP authorisations.
Effective from 2025, gains from sales of crypto-assets held over three years are exempt from personal income tax up to a CZK 40 million per-taxpayer cap; annual gross transactions under CZK 100,000 are also exempt from reporting.
All CASPs/VASPs are obliged entities under the Czech AML Act supervised by the FAÚ, with KYC, transaction monitoring and suspicious-transaction reporting; from 30 December 2024 the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation 2023/1113 travel rule applies.
Timeline - major decisions & events
The transitional regime under the Digital Finance Act ended, requiring all crypto-asset service providers formerly operating under Czech trade licences to hold a valid CNB-issued MiCA authorization or cease offering services in the EU. Entities without authorization were ordered to stop onboarding new clients and wind down activity.
Czech National Bank (CNB) ↗The Czech National Bank granted the first six Crypto-Asset Service Provider authorizations under the MiCA Regulation, opening active licensing under the new EU-wide framework. The CNB had received 248 applications in total — the highest volume of any EU member state.
Czech National Bank (CNB) ↗The CNB Board approved a $1 million test portfolio of digital assets — comprising Bitcoin, a USD stablecoin, and a tokenized bank deposit — to gain operational experience with crypto custody. The board separately rejected Governor Michl's earlier proposal to allocate up to 5% (~$7.3 bn) of the CNB's forex reserves to Bitcoin.
Czech National Bank (CNB) ↗Under the grandfathering clause of the Digital Finance Act, crypto businesses that held Czech trade licences before 30 December 2024 were required to submit a full MiCA CASP application to the CNB by 31 July 2025 to lawfully continue operations through 1 July 2026.
Czech National Bank (CNB) ↗A new trade category — branch No. 81 ('Provision of services related to virtual assets') — was added to the Trade Licensing Act, requiring all businesses buying, selling, storing, managing, or brokering crypto-assets to register with the Trade Licensing Office and comply with AML obligations supervised by the Financial Analytical Office (FAÚ). This was Czechia's strictest-in-EU implementation, exceeding AMLD5 requirements.
Financial Analytical Office (FAÚ) ↗Czechia transposed EU Directive 2018/843 (AMLD5) through an amendment to Act No. 253/2008, formally bringing virtual currency exchanges and custodian wallet providers into the AML/CFT regime for the first time, with mandatory KYC, transaction monitoring, and suspicious-activity reporting obligations.
Financial Analytical Office (FAÚ) ↗The Council of Europe's MONEYVAL body published its mutual evaluation of Czechia (on-site visit March 2018), rating the country Largely Compliant with 29 FATF Recommendations but identifying deficiencies in money-laundering investigations and prosecutions. The report catalysed subsequent legislative reforms that strengthened the crypto-sector AML framework.
FATF / MONEYVAL ↗Czechia - other topics
Crypto & Digital Assets in other countries
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