CASP License in Portugal

The European crypto-assets market is undergoing significant transformations, opening new horizons for innovative businesses, and Portugal holds a prominent position. The country maintains its status as an attractive jurisdiction for fintech innovations, actively integrating pan-European standards – MiCA.

This means that the previous VASP regime is giving way to a new one. From December 30, 2024, crypto-asset activities in Portugal and the EU will be illegal without a CASP license.

• For companies currently operating, there is a 12-month transitional period to obtain the new authorization, which is already approaching its end on December 30, 2025.

Today, we will review the benefits that the Portugal CASP License provides, the requirements established for business, and the issuance procedure. Most importantly — how the team of lawyers at AA Lawrange will assist you along this path.

What a Portuguese CASP License Offers

Possessing a CASP license is not so much a formal procedure as it is an element of building a long-term strategy that strengthens the company’s compliance infrastructure. Therefore, among the benefits you will receive are:

1. Access to the unified European market. The CASP License Portugal, under the principle of a single passport, allows you to provide services in all EU countries without the need for licensing in each separately. This significantly expands your operational horizons.
2. Clear and harmonized regulation. MiCA brings clarity and predictability to crypto-asset regulation. You will operate within a comprehensible legal framework, which reduces regulatory risks.
3. Increased trust from clients and partners. Having a license from an authoritative European regulator indicates the reliability and transparency of the organization.
4. Favorable business climate. Portugal is known for its relatively lenient tax policy (although nuances always exist, and they should be consulted about separately) and support for fintech startups.
5. Innovative environment. The country actively develops technological infrastructure and has access to qualified personnel, which is important for any technological business.
6. Enhanced consumer protection. The requirements of the MiCA regulation, especially those aimed at securing the interests of clients, positively affect the reputation of the entire market and your company in particular.

However, to take advantage of this and the listed benefits, it’s essential to fulfill specific conditions, which will be elaborated on below.

Who Falls Under Portugal’s Crypto Licensing?

If you plan to work with clients from Portugal or other EU countries, then it is highly likely that you need this license. The MiCA Regulation clearly defines the range of services the provision of which requires authorization as a CASP.

The key regulated activities requiring a CASP-formatted Crypto License in Portugal include:

1. Custody and management of crypto-assets on behalf of third parties (for example, if you offer wallets for storing your clients’ cryptocurrencies).
2. Operations exchanging crypto-assets for fiat currencies or other crypto-assets (this applies to both classic exchangers and exchanges).
3. Management of a trading platform for crypto-assets.
4. Handling crypto-asset orders for clients, including taking and sending them.
5. Placement of crypto-assets and assisting issuers in the initial sale of their tokens.
6. Providing consulting services regarding crypto-assets to clients.
7. Managing clients’ investments in crypto-assets.
8. Providing services for transferring crypto-assets between different addresses on behalf of third parties (exclusively by client mandate).

If at least one of these points describes your business model, you will have to initiate the process of obtaining a CASP license in Portugal — without it, the business will be illegal.

Regulatory Framework for CASP Licensing in Portugal

Successful entry into the Portuguese crypto market and stable further operation are impossible without a deep understanding of the current regulatory base.

For crypto businesses in Portugal (and the EU), the MiCA regulation is the primary guide. Applying to CASPs from December 30, 2024, its goal is to ensure consistent and transparent market conditions for all participants.

Supervision and authorization of CASPs according to MiCA rules in Portugal are carried out by two bodies. The main responsibility lies with the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários – CMVM). At the same time, the Bank of Portugal (Banco de Portugal – BdP), despite transferring the main role of CASP authorization to CMVM, continues to play a significant role. In particular, BdP handles registration issues of entities operating with virtual assets and oversees adherence to AML/CFT regulations.

Besides MiCA, national legislation remains important as it complements and specifies the pan-European standards:

• Law No. 83/2017 (Lei n.º 83/2017, de 18 de agosto), which establishes measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and serves as a basis for the development of internal AML/KYC policies of the company.
• BdP Notice (Aviso do Banco de Portugal n.º 1/2023, de 24 de janeiro), which clarifies registration procedures and requirements for entities operating with virtual assets, especially in the context of AML/CFT. Despite the full implementation of MiCA rules, its provisions on registration and reporting to BdP remain relevant for certain aspects of activity.

Understanding the interaction between the pan-European MiCA and national norms is critically important, and this is where the expertise of the AA Lawrange team will be useful to you.

What Secures a Portuguese CASP License

Obtaining a license is a process that requires preparation and compliance with a number of conditions. Regulators aim to ensure that the firm is reliable, and has all the necessary mechanisms to protect clients and prevent financial crimes.

With this in mind, let’s examine four specific aspects:

1. Minimum share capital.
2. Internal policies regarding AML/KYC.
3. Financial reporting.
4. Corporate governance structure.

Minimum Share Capital Obligations

MiCA implements a differentiated approach to CASP capitalization, establishing threshold values according to the type of services declared in the activity profile.

Of course, the amounts of share capital may vary in different cases; here is the minimum you can consider:

• €50,000 – for CASPs providing services of receiving and transmitting orders, consulting on crypto-assets, managing crypto portfolios, or placing crypto-assets.
• €125,000 – for CASPs providing custody and management services of crypto-assets, as well as exchanging crypto-assets for fiat currencies or other crypto-assets.
• €150,000 – for CASPs managing a crypto trading platform.

To repeat: these figures are guidelines. It is important to precisely define the range of services to correctly calculate the required capital. If necessary, specialists from AA Lawrange will help classify your business activity so you obtain a CASP License Portugal without overpaying.

Internal AML/KYC Policy

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) policies are operationally effective because they are a direct consequence of applying a risk-oriented approach. Efforts and resources are concentrated on the most critical areas, thereby optimizing the workload of compliance departments. This is why it is necessary to develop and implement AML/KYC policies, namely:

• conducting procedures for identification and verification of clients (Customer Due Diligence – CDD), including beneficial owners;
• monitoring transactions to detect suspicious operations;
• classifying clients and transactions by risk level.

Also company proprietors in Portugal must report suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit (Unidade de Informação Financeira – UIF).

Financial Reporting Requirements

Transparency of financial activities is another cornerstone. The obligations for CASPs include maintaining accurate financial documentation and the periodic submission of specific types of reports, like:

• annual balance sheet (Balanço);
• income statement (Demonstração dos Resultados);
• cash flow statement (Demonstração dos Fluxos de Caixa).

Depending on the volume of activities and the specifics of services, an audit by an independent specialist may be required. This way, the regulator ensures that the organization is financially stable and complies with regulations.

Portuguese crypto companies must also maintain and submit declarations for the payment of:

• corporate income tax (21%, or 5% for business owners in the Madeira Free Economic Zone who meet certain conditions);
• withholding tax (25% for non-resident legal entities without permanent establishment; 28% for resident individuals);
• capital gains tax (for legal entities, the rate equals the corporate tax rate, i.e., normally 21% or potentially 5% in Madeira; for individuals, capital gains are taxed if the holding period is less than 12 months or if the income is from professional/business activity).

According to established practice based on rulings of the Court of Justice of the European Union (in particular, case C-264/14 Hedqvist), which apply throughout the EU including Portugal, operations exchanging traditional currencies for cryptocurrency units and vice versa, as well as exchanges of one cryptocurrency for another, are typically viewed as VAT-exempt financial transactions. However, some ancillary services provided by crypto companies may be subject to VAT, so each case requires careful analysis.

Corporate Governance Requirements

It is essential for directors to demonstrate an impeccable reputation and to have relevant experience in the financial sector or in managing technology companies. The evaluation of these criteria is known as the “fit and proper test”.

To ensure compliance with the standards, a CASP is required to:

• distribute powers, duties, and responsibilities among various departments and officials;
• appoint a Compliance Officer who will be responsible for ensuring adherence to AML/CFT procedures;
• register an office in Portugal;
• implement internal control systems designed to monitor compliance with policies, procedures, and regulatory standards.

Each of these aspects has nuances that will depend on the scale and nature of your business. If you are interested in consultation or any other legal assistance – specialists from AA Lawrange are always at your service.

Roadmap to Secure CASP License

For your business to become licensed, you must invest adequate time. However, each case is unique, so unplanned delays may not necessarily affect you.

So, how to register a company in Portugal and immediately obtain a CASP license? You will need to go through 6 stages:

1. Document Preparation and Due Diligence.
2. Company Formation in Portugal.
3. Corporate Bank Account Opening.
4. Filing Application with Banco de Portugal.
5. Regulatory Review and Assessment.
6. Granting of License and Operational Launch.

To give you a clearer idea of what to expect at each step, let’s look at them in more detail.

Document Preparation and Due Diligence

Before applying for obtaining a CASP license in Portugal, both reviewers and non-reviewers must:

• define the list of CASP services that the company plans to provide;
• collect documents of the founders, directors, and beneficial owners (passports, criminal record certificates, proof of address, CVs);
• develop a business plan describing services, target market, marketing strategy, financial forecasts, security measures, etc.;
• develop and approve AML/KYC/CFT policies, risk management policies, and data protection policies.

At the initial stage, it is recommended to conduct Due Diligence on all involved persons to avoid problems later on.

Company Formation in Portugal

A CASP License Portugal implies that the company:

• is registered in this jurisdiction with a unique name and in the Commercial Register (Registo Comercial);
• has Articles of Association (Pacto Social/Estatutos) and other founding documents;
• has an assigned tax number (Número de Identificação de Pessoa Coletiva – NIPC).

This stage is crucial because it is this registered company that will act as the applicant and subsequently as the license holder.

Corporate Bank Account Opening

As soon as the company receives official registration, it is necessary to take care of how funds will be received, taxes will be paid, and, ultimately, how the share capital will be deposited. For this, you need to understand how to open a bank account in Portugal.

A company’s legal status will determine the list of documents the bank needs. For example, limited liability companies (Sociedade por Quotas – Lda) or joint-stock companies (Sociedade Anónima – SA) must provide:

• a certificate from the Commercial Register;
• founding documents;
• identity documents of the owners (beneficiaries) and directors.

Additionally, a document confirming the foreign residential address may be required for non-resident directors/founders.

If you wish to open an account remotely, AA Lawrange offers such a service. To initiate the process, your power of attorney is sufficient.

Filing Application with Banco de Portugal

When all documents are ready, the company is registered, and the account is opened, it is time to submit an application for the Portugal CASP License to the CMVM. The application must include information about:

• the business model;
• the ownership structure;
• directors and beneficiaries;
• internal control systems;
• security measures and AML/KYC policies.

Depending on the specifics of your activity and current procedures, preliminary registration or submission of certain forms to the BdP may be required, especially regarding AML compliance.

Regulatory Review and Assessment

After submitting the application, the CMVM (and potentially the BdP) will review it. Waiting for a response may take several months. The regulator has the right to request additional information, documents, or clarifications. We advise responding as quickly as possible to avoid artificially delaying the process.

Granting of License and Operational Launch

If the application meets all the requirements, the CMVM makes a decision to issue the license. From that moment, the company’s activity is recognized as legal not only in this jurisdiction but also in countries that are part of the EU.

Estimated Costs and Duration for CASP License Approval

Multiple factors impact the procedural timeline: how complete and high-quality the documentation is, how quickly responses to regulator requests are provided, the current workload of the CMVM and BdP, etc.

However, we will try to summarize the approximate timeframes in a table.

So, the overall estimated period from the beginning of preparation to obtaining the license may range from 6 to 12 months, and sometimes even longer.

Obtaining a CASP license in Portugal also requires certain financial investments, in particular the payment of state fees, minimum share capital, fees for legal services, and current operating expenses (such as office rent, employee salaries, etc.).

The Ongoing Obligations for Licensed CASPs in Portugal

Successful licensing is not the end of the process but rather the beginning of responsible business conduct with strict compliance with regulatory requirements. Therefore, the work does not end even when the Portugal CASP License is already obtained. Throughout the entire period of the company’s operation, it is necessary to:

• comply with AML/CFT requirements;
• maintain capital at the proper level;
• regularly report to the authorities;
• notify the regulator of any changes regarding ownership structure or the list of services.

Failure to comply with these obligations will sooner or later lead to significant fines and prohibition of activity within the EU. So think three times before taking unjustified risks.

Why Choose Lawrange for CASP Licensing in Portugal

Licensing a CASP in Portugal is a complex but entirely achievable procedure — especially if you have a reliable partner like AA Lawrange. Why us? Because:

• We understand the specifics of the FinTech and Crypto markets and know how the regulators work.
• We constantly monitor changes in MiCA and Portuguese legislation.
• We provide a full range of services — from initial consultation to full support during the CASP License Portugal acquisition.
• We always keep you informed and promptly respond to your inquiries.
• We understand that every business is unique, which is why we don’t offer one-size-fits-all solutions but instead develop a personalized strategy.

By turning to our legal experts, you can be sure that the licensing process will proceed as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Our main goal is your success — and we are ready to share it with you!

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