Is crypto legal in Gibraltar? Rules & regulation (2026)

Firms that use DLT for the transmission or storage of value belonging to others (exchanges, custodians, wallet providers, etc.) must be authorised by the GFSC as DLT Providers and comply with ten Regulatory Principles covering honesty & integrity, customer care, resources, risk management, protection of client assets, corporate governance, cyber-security, financial crime, resilience and market integrity.

A 10th principle added in 2022 requires DLT Providers to conduct themselves in a way that maintains market integrity, including monitoring for market abuse/manipulation, transparent price formation, fair access and robust consumer protection.

Under POCA 2015 (as amended, including the 2021 Registration Regulations), businesses that sell tokenised digital assets or otherwise conduct virtual-asset activities not caught by the DLT regime must register with the GFSC as VASPs and comply with full AML/CFT/CPF obligations, including MLRO appointment and KYC on ICO participants from the moment expressions of interest are invited.

The Financial Services (Regulated Activities)(Amendment) Regulations 2025 classify 'virtual asset arrangements' (crypto-to-fiat, fiat-to-crypto, and crypto-to-crypto exchange) as a regulated activity under Part 16 of Schedule 2 FSA, so providers now require Part 7 permission from the GFSC in addition to any DLT Provider licence; native-token issuers remain within the POCA VASP registration regime.

There is no bespoke ICO/STO law: tokens are analysed by economic substance. Security tokens fall under the Prospectus Regulation and MiFID-derived securities rules, e-money-like tokens under the Financial Services (Electronic Money) Regulations 2020, and non-security utility/payment tokens through the DLT / VASP regime with full AML/CFT obligations.

Gibraltar imposes no capital gains tax, no VAT, no withholding tax and no dividend tax. Corporate income tax (15% general rate; 10% for certain trading businesses accrued in Gibraltar) applies to profits from crypto trading businesses; individual crypto sales are only taxable if they meet the 'badges of trade' test, otherwise they are treated as non-taxable capital gains.