Is crypto legal in Spain? Regulation & rules (2026)

BBVA became the first traditional bank in Spain to offer retail customers buy, sell, and custody services for Bitcoin and Ether directly within its mobile banking app, following its CNMV MiCA authorization. This marked the first bank-delivered crypto product under the EU MiCA framework in Spain.

The CNMV approved BBVA as the first entity in Spain to receive full authorization as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) under MiCA, covering custody, trading, and investment services. BBVA remained the only institution with a full MiCA license in Spain through mid-2025.

Spain's Ministry of Finance published the ministerial orders creating Form 721 (declaration of crypto held abroad exceeding €50,000, with €5,000-per-item penalty for non-filing), and Forms 172/173 (exchange-level reporting of client balances and operations), implementing the 2021 anti-fraud law's crypto disclosure mandate. First Form 721 filings covered tax year 2023.

The CNMV published Circular 1/2022 (entering force 17 February 2022) requiring a 10-business-day prior notification to the CNMV before any mass crypto advertising campaign, mandatory risk disclaimers on all ads, and a two-year register of published materials. Influencers paid per acquired client were treated as client-acquisition agents subject to supervisory oversight.

Six months after Royal Decree-Law 7/2021, the Banco de España stood up its public registry for virtual asset service providers covering fiat-crypto exchange and custodian wallet services. Existing operators had until 29 January 2022 to register; operating without registration was a very serious infringement carrying fines up to €10 million.

Spain enacted Law 11/2021 (Ley de medidas de prevención y lucha contra el fraude fiscal), the first Spanish statute to require taxpayers to disclose virtual currency holdings and operations to the AEAT. The law also mandated crypto exchanges operating in Spain to report customer data, laying the legal basis for the later Modelo 721/172/173 forms.

Spain transposed the EU Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive through Royal Decree-Law 7/2021, formally defining 'virtual assets,' classifying crypto-fiat exchange and custodian wallet providers as obliged subjects under Law 10/2010, and requiring them to register with the Banco de España and submit to SEPBLAC supervision — Spain's first substantive crypto regulation.

Spain's two principal financial supervisors issued a joint statement warning the public of extreme volatility, complexity, and lack of transparency in crypto assets, and clarified that some crypto-assets could qualify as securities subject to CNMV jurisdiction. This was Spain's first formal regulatory signal that crypto was on the supervisory radar, predating any binding legislation.