Pin and benchmark
Pin one jurisdiction. Line up to five rivals against it. Deltas show where each peer is better or worse.
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| Dimension |
Pinned 🇨🇾 Cyprus partly open Verified 2026-08-15
|
🇪🇪 Estonia
partly open
Verified 2026-08-15
|
|---|---|---|
| Licence type | MiCA CASP Authorisation granted by CySEC; existing Cyprus Investment Firms (CIFs) can extend their licence to cover crypto-asset services under a simplified process | MiCA CASP authorisation; implemented via the Crypto-Assets Market Act (Kruptovarade turu seadus, KrüTS), in force 1 July 2024. |
| Regulator | Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) - sole National Competent Authority for MiCA in Cyprus | Finantsinspektsioon (Estonian Financial Supervision and Resolution Authority) |
| Capital requirement | Cyprus capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia capital requirement is included in the £349 pass. |
| Timeline to authorisation | Cyprus timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia timeline to authorisation is included in the £349 pass. |
| Local substance | Cyprus local substance is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia local substance is included in the £349 pass. |
| Application cost | Cyprus application cost is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia application cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Ongoing cost | Cyprus ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia ongoing cost is included in the £349 pass. |
| Passporting | Cyprus passporting is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia passporting is included in the £349 pass. |
| MiCA CASPs approved | Cyprus mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia mica casps approved is included in the £349 pass. |
| Key restrictions | Cyprus key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia key restrictions is included in the £349 pass. |
| Recent changes | CySEC set a hard 27 February 2026 deadline for existing national-regime CASPs to submit MiCA applications; preliminary assessment phase opened 13 Nov 2024, formal applications from 1 Jan 2025; national transitional regime and full MiCA regime now running in parallel toward the 1 July 2026 EU-wide cutover | Estonia's VASP population collapsed from 641 valid licences (mid-2021 peak) to 36 remaining by early 2026; as of recent reporting only one entity (Lightspark Payments Europe AS) had received full MiCA CASP authorisation. From 18 March 2026, CASP applications must go through FI's new application portal. |
| Difficulty rating | Cyprus difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia difficulty rating is included in the £349 pass. |
Informational only, not legal advice. A delta compares the sortable figure only (capital, timeline, cost, difficulty, passporting, approvals); it is not a judgement on overall suitability. Verify with qualified counsel before acting.
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