Crypto & Digital Assets · Finland
Crypto license in Finland: MiCA CASP requirements (2026)
Finland shaded by its crypto & digital assets status
Crypto is regulated in Finland.
FrameworkEU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), directly applicable since 30 December 2024, supervised by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanssivalvonta / FIN-FSA). National AML framework: Act on Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (444/2017) and the Act on Virtual Currency Providers (572/2019, now largely superseded by MiCA). Tax administration by Verohallinto (Vero).
Crypto-asset activities are legal and comprehensively regulated in Finland under MiCA, which is directly applicable as EU law and supervised nationally by FIN-FSA. Finland adopted one of the shortest MiCA transitional periods in Europe, only six months, ending 30 June 2025, after which crypto-asset services may be provided only by FIN-FSA-authorised CASPs or EEA firms passporting in. Tax treatment is settled (capital gains / income), and DAC8/CARF-aligned reporting obligations for CASPs apply from 2026.
How to get a crypto license in Finland
To provide crypto-asset services in Finland you need a MiCA CASP authorisation (Crypto-Asset Service Provider), supervised by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Title V.
- Authority
- the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA)
- 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 Finland 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 Finland: 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 Finland
- 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 Finland
- 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 Finland: FAQ
Yes. To provide crypto-asset services in Finland you need a MiCA CASP authorisation (Crypto-Asset Service Provider), supervised by the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA), under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Title V.
The Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA).
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
MiCA has applied in full since 30 December 2024. FIN-FSA authorises and supervises CASPs, ART/EMT issuers and significant token issuers, and applies ESMA/EBA technical standards.
Finland set a six-month transitional period for legacy virtual currency providers registered under Act 572/2019; that period ended 30 June 2025, after which only MiCA-authorised CASPs may serve Finnish customers.
FIN-FSA granted the first Finnish MiCA CASP licence in June 2025, with further authorisations following in September and November 2025 (e.g. Northcrypto), confirming a working licensing regime rather than a paper one.
From 2026, crypto-asset service providers reporting to Finland must collect and transmit user identity and transaction data to the Finnish Tax Administration, implementing the EU DAC8 / OECD CARF framework; users remain personally obliged to declare gains.
CASPs authorised in another EU/EEA Member State may serve Finnish clients after submitting a cross-border notification to FIN-FSA, in line with MiCA's single-market passport.
Fully decentralised protocols with no identifiable operator are excluded from MiCA (Recital 22) and have no Finnish-specific regime; partially decentralised arrangements with a controlling entity can fall within CASP scope.
Timeline - major decisions & events
Finland's six-month MiCA transition (among the shortest in the EU/EEA) expired, so former AML-registered virtual currency providers could no longer operate unless granted a MiCA CASP authorisation. After this date only FIN-FSA-authorised crypto-asset service providers may legally serve Finnish customers.
FIN-FSA ↗The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation began applying to crypto-asset service providers, replacing the national AML-only registration regime with a full authorisation framework (governance, own funds, transparency, information security). FIN-FSA became the licensing and supervisory authority for CASPs.
FIN-FSA ↗The Supreme Administrative Court held that gains on Bitcoin disposals must be calculated using the First-In-First-Out principle unless the taxpayer can prove otherwise, settling the acquisition-cost method for crypto capital gains. The ruling shapes how all Finnish investors compute taxable crypto profits.
Korkein hallinto-oikeus (Supreme Administrative Court) ↗FIN-FSA approved the first five virtual currency providers (exchanges, custodian wallets, issuers), with supervision focused on anti-money laundering compliance. This operationalised the new registration regime; unregistered providers were barred from operating under threat of conditional fines.
FIN-FSA ↗Detailed FIN-FSA rules specifying registration criteria, safeguarding of client funds, and AML obligations for virtual currency providers entered into force. These guidelines fleshed out the requirements of the 2019 Act.
FIN-FSA ↗Finland's first dedicated crypto law, implementing the EU's Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive, required virtual currency exchanges, custodian wallet providers, and issuers to register with and be supervised by FIN-FSA. Providers became AML-obliged entities (effective 1 December 2019) obligated to report suspicious transactions.
FIN-FSA ↗The court held that disposing of cryptocurrency (e.g. Ether) bought for profit is taxable as income from a transfer of property, establishing that crypto are taxable assets under the Income Tax Act and that crypto-to-crypto trades are taxable events. The decision also opened the door to deducting crypto losses.
Korkein hallinto-oikeus (Supreme Administrative Court) ↗In ruling 034/2014 the Central Board of Taxes found that, for VAT purposes, Bitcoin is a means of payment and that fees for converting Bitcoin to/from legal-tender currency are VAT-exempt financial-service commissions. This was Finland's first authoritative tax classification of Bitcoin, foreshadowing the EU-wide Hedqvist outcome.
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