Crypto licensing costs, jurisdiction by jurisdiction
What three years actually costs, component by component: application, capital, people, premises, audit and the rest. Owner-modelled ranges, never invented.
These figures are planning estimates for a stated representative scenario, not quotes and not legal or financial advice. Regulator fees and capital minimums are sourced from official schedules; professional and substance costs are market estimates with ranges. Your numbers will differ. Verify against the cited sources and take advice before committing.
| Jurisdiction | 3-year cash | Capital held | Confidence | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇪 ADGM (Abu Dhabi) FSRA (ADGM) Financial Services Permission to conduct Virtual Asset Regulated Activities where those activities include Operating a Multilateral Trading Facility (a virtual-asset exchange), under the framework as amended on 10 June 2025. Fees read from the FSRA FEES module (VA add-on fee schedule). Capital for a VA MTF is expenditure-based (MIR Rule 3.2 via COBS 17.3), not a fixed base-capital figure, so no single capital number can be stated. |
ADGM (Abu Dhabi) three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | ADGM (Abu Dhabi) capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇦🇹 Austria Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to FMA (Finanzmarktaufsicht) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Austria three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Austria capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇧🇭 Bahrain Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Rulebook Volume 6, Crypto-Asset (CRA) Module, Category 4 licence, being the fullest category, which permits operating a licensed crypto-asset exchange (CRA-1.1.15). All figures read from the CBB CRA Module. |
Bahrain three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Bahrain capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇧🇪 Belgium Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the FSMA (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Belgium three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Belgium capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇻🇬 British Virgin Islands (BVI) BVI FSC registration as a VASP operating a virtual assets exchange under the Virtual Assets Service Providers Act, 2022 (No. 17 of 2022; in force 1 February 2023). The VASP Act uses registration rather than a licence. Costed the EXCHANGE category (application under s30/s31), the highest of the three VASP categories (general VASP application USD 5,000 / registration USD 7,500; custody USD 10,000 / USD 15,000; exchange USD 10,000 / USD 25,000). Figures read from the Financial Services (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023 (SI 2023 No. 5), Schedule, item (xi). Currency USD. |
British Virgin Islands (BVI) three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | British Virgin Islands (BVI) capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇭🇷 Croatia Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to HANFA (custody plus exchange of crypto-assets for funds and for other crypto-assets, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Croatia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Croatia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇨🇾 Cyprus Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to CySEC (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Cyprus three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Cyprus capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇨🇿 Czechia Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the CNB (Ceska narodni banka) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Czechia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Czechia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇸🇻 El Salvador Registration as a Digital Asset Service Provider (Proveedor de Servicios de Activos Digitales, PSAD) with the CNAD under the Digital Assets Issuance Law (LEAD, 2023) and its Digital Asset Service Providers Regulation 2023. The alternative Bitcoin Service Provider (PSB) registration with the BCR under the Ley Bitcoin framework is not costed here. Fees are pegged to El Salvador's commerce and services minimum monthly wage; the USD figures are the amounts stated in the regulation and shown on CNAD's current site. El Salvador is USD-ised. |
El Salvador three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | El Salvador capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇫🇷 France Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP (PSCA) authorised by the AMF (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
France three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | France capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇬🇮 Gibraltar GFSC DLT Provider licence (a Part 7 permission under the Financial Services Act 2019) for a firm carrying on by way of business the use of distributed ledger technology to store or transmit value belonging to others. |
Gibraltar three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Gibraltar capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇬🇷 Greece Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the HCMC (Hellenic Capital Market Commission) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
- | roughly EUR 100k to EUR 150k | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇬🇬 Guernsey GFSC Part III VASP licence (Virtual Asset Exchange or Stablecoin issuer or operator band) under the Lending, Credit and Finance (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2022, priced at the reduced rates effective 1 January 2026. |
Guernsey three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Guernsey capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇭🇰 Hong Kong analogue Centralised virtual asset trading platform under the SFC dual-licence route: SFO Types 1 and 7 plus the AMLO virtual asset service, three regulated activities in total. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Hong Kong three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Hong Kong capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-10 |
| 🇮🇪 Ireland Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP application to the Central Bank of Ireland (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
- | roughly EUR 100k to EUR 150k | Medium | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇮🇹 Italy Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to CONSOB (with Banca d'Italia) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Italy three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Italy capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇯🇪 Jersey Registration as a Money Service Business under the Financial Services (Jersey) Law 1998 (whose money-service-business definition captures virtual-currency exchange) with the JFSC; a crypto firm typically also holds the separate Schedule 2 VASP AML registration under the Proceeds of Crime (Supervisory Bodies) (Jersey) Law 2008. |
Jersey three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Jersey capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇱🇻 Latvia Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Latvijas Banka (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Latvia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Latvia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-10 |
| 🇱🇹 Lithuania Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP application to the Bank of Lithuania (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Lithuania three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Lithuania capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇱🇺 Luxembourg Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the CSSF (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Luxembourg three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Luxembourg capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇲🇹 Malta Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP application to the MFSA (custody plus exchange as two authorised services, no trading platform), new applicant rather than a transitioning VFA holder. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Malta three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Malta capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇲🇽 Mexico analogue ITF under the Ley Fintech (Ley para Regular las Instituciones de Tecnologia Financiera): an Institucion de Fondos de Pago Electronico (IFPE) additionally authorised by Banxico to carry out operations with virtual assets (activos virtuales). Capital is sourced to Art. 7 of the CNBV Disposiciones de caracter general aplicables a las ITF. Caveat: the Ley Federal de Derechos (2026 text) contains no ITF or IFPE line for either an authorisation derecho or an inspection-and-vigilancia derecho, and the Ley Fintech sets no peso fee, so no primary figure exists for the two fee components. |
Mexico three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Mexico capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇵🇹 Portugal Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation in Portugal (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons; under Lei 69/2025 the CASP authorisation is submitted to and assessed by Banco de Portugal, with CMVM as conduct supervisor. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Portugal three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Portugal capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇷🇴 Romania Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the ASF (Autoritatea de Supraveghere Financiara) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Romania three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Romania capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇸🇬 Singapore analogue Major Payment Institution licence under the Payment Services Act 2019 providing a digital payment token service. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Singapore three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Singapore capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-10 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the CNMV (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Spain three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Spain capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇨🇭 Switzerland analogue FINMA securities-firm licence (Wertpapierhaus) under the Financial Institutions Act (FinIA), the closest Swiss authorisation to a custody-plus-exchange operator that does not run a trading venue. FINMA does not operate a MiCA regime; a firm operating a multilateral crypto trading venue would instead need a DLT trading facility authorisation under Art 73a ff. FinMIA. |
Switzerland three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Switzerland capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇹🇷 Turkey Crypto-asset service provider platform (exchange) licence granted by the Capital Markets Board (SPK/CMB) under Capital Markets Law No. 6362 as amended by Law No. 7518, and SPK Communiques III-35/B.1 (establishment and operating principles) and III-35/B.2 (working principles and capital adequacy), both gazetted 13 March 2025 in Resmi Gazete No. 32840. In the Turkish regime the platform is the trading venue (exchange); the separate crypto-asset custody service provider (saklama kurulusu) carries a higher capital floor, noted in the capital component. |
Turkey three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Turkey capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) analogue Single VA Activity licence for Exchange Services under Dubai VARA (mainland and free zones outside DIFC), client assets held with a VARA-licensed custody provider at the low capital bound. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | United Arab Emirates (Dubai - VARA) capital held is included in the £349 pass. | High | 2026-07-10 |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom Cryptoasset business registration with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations (AML registration, not FSMA authorisation; the new FSMA cryptoasset regime starts 25 October 2027). No minimum capital requirement attaches to MLR registration, so no capital line is modelled. |
roughly EUR 0 to EUR 50k | - | Medium | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇺🇸 United States NYDFS BitLicense (23 NYCRR Part 200), the flagship US state virtual-currency licence, costed as the headline. MULTI-STATE CAVEAT: FinCEN money services business registration is federal, mandatory and free, but operating nationwide also requires a BitLicense PLUS roughly 40-plus separate state money transmitter licences, each with its own application fee, surety bond and net-worth requirement, so the true nationwide cost is far higher than this NYDFS headline. Only the New York BitLicense is costed in the figures below. |
United States three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | United States capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Medium | 2026-07-07 |
| Lower confidence: wider estimates, never interleaved with verified figures | ||||
| 🇧🇲 Bermuda BMA Class F (full) licence under the Digital Asset Business Act 2018 (DABA), which authorises the full scope of digital asset business including operating a digital asset exchange. Class M (modified) carries the same BMD 2,266 application fee but is granted with restrictions and typically for a set period; Class T is a test/sandbox licence (BMD 1,000 application). Fee figures read from the BMA Fees effective 1 January 2025. The grant-of-licence fee and annual fee are not flat per class; they are set by activity and estimated client receipts. Currency BMD, pegged 1:1 to USD. |
roughly EUR 0 to EUR 450k | roughly EUR 75k to EUR 100k | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇧🇬 Bulgaria Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC / KFN) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Bulgaria three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Bulgaria capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇨🇦 Canada Canada's two-regulator crypto route. (A) Federal AML: FINTRAC money services business (MSB) registration under the PCMLTFA, which is mandatory but free. (B) Securities: a crypto-asset trading platform must register with the relevant provincial securities regulator (a CSA member, e.g. the OSC in Ontario) as a restricted dealer or investment dealer and typically become a CIRO member. Canada has NO single national flat crypto licence fee; the annual figure shown is the Ontario OSC capital markets participation fee used as a proxy, and required capital is set by CIRO risk-adjusted-capital rules or negotiated CSA terms rather than a flat statutory sum. |
Canada three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Canada capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇰🇾 Cayman Islands CIMA licence to operate a virtual asset trading platform (exchange) under the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) Act (2024 Revision), Phase 2 licensing in force since 1 April 2025. Costed the LICENCE, not the lighter registration route, which since 1 April 2025 is no longer available for trading platforms or custodians. Figures read from Schedule 2 of the Virtual Asset (Service Providers) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (SL 19 of 2025). Schedule is stated in Cayman Islands dollars (KYD); CIMA converts at USD 1.00 = KYD 0.82 (so 1 KYD is about 1.22 USD). Standard (non-local-company) rates used; a Cayman local company pays 10 per cent of the grant and renewal figures. |
Cayman Islands three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Cayman Islands capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇩🇰 Denmark Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Finanstilsynet (the Danish FSA) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Denmark three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Denmark capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇪🇪 Estonia Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Finantsinspektsioon (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Estonia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Estonia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇫🇮 Finland Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Finanssivalvonta (FIN-FSA) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Finland three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Finland capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP application to BaFin (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Germany three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Germany capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇭🇺 Hungary Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Hungary three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Hungary capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇮🇩 Indonesia Crypto-asset trading platform licensed as a Pedagang (Trader), the customer-facing crypto exchange, successor to the Bappebti Pedagang Fisik Aset Kripto, under OJK Regulation POJK No. 27 of 2024 (as amended by POJK 23/2025), supervision having transferred from Bappebti/CoFTRA to OJK on 10 January 2025. Licensing and annual levy figures are taken from the OJK levy schedule in Government Regulation PP No. 41 of 2024 (effective 1 January 2025). The wholesale market operator (Bursa) and the clearing/depository infrastructure carry much higher figures, noted in the components. |
Indonesia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Indonesia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇮🇲 Isle of Man Registration under the Designated Businesses (Registration and Oversight) Act 2015 as a Type A Virtual Asset Service Provider overseen by the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority (AML/CFT oversight). A firm whose crypto activity amounts to money transmission or e-money would instead need a Financial Services Act 2008 Class 8 licence. |
Isle of Man three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Isle of Man capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan Crypto Asset Exchange Service Provider (angou shisan koukan gyousha) registration with the FSA/JFSA under the Payment Services Act (Shikin Kessai Ho). Japan levies no per-firm annual FSA supervision fee, so the supervision_fee component is included with null amounts. JVCEA self-regulatory membership fees are a separate cost, not a regulator fee. |
Japan three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Japan capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to FMA Liechtenstein (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Liechtenstein three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Liechtenstein capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇳🇱 Netherlands Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP application to the AFM (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Netherlands three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Netherlands capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-06 |
| 🇳🇴 Norway Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Finanstilsynet (custody plus exchange, no trading platform); MiCA applies in Norway (EEA) through the kryptoeiendelsloven in force from 1 July 2025. |
Norway three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Norway capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇵🇱 Poland Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the KNF under Poland's Crypto-Asset Market Act (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. Professional and substance costs not modelled. |
Poland three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Poland capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇸🇰 Slovakia Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Narodna banka Slovenska (NBS) (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Slovakia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Slovakia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇸🇮 Slovenia Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to the Securities Market Agency (ATVP), the Slovenian competent authority for CASPs (custody plus exchange, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Slovenia three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Slovenia capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇸🇪 Sweden Single-entity MiCA Class 2 CASP authorisation to Finansinspektionen (custody plus exchange of crypto-assets for funds and for other crypto-assets, no trading platform), no passporting add-ons. |
Sweden three-year cash cost is included in the £349 pass. | Sweden capital held is included in the £349 pass. | Low | 2026-07-07 |
| 🇹🇭 Thailand Digital Asset Exchange licence (cryptocurrency exchange) under the Emergency Decree on Digital Asset Businesses B.E. 2561 (2018), granted by the Minister of Finance on the SEC's recommendation. Figures cost the principal cryptocurrency-exchange licence; a firm additionally running a digital-token exchange pays a second licence fee and a second annual band. application_fee captures the one-off licence fee (with the per-application filing fee noted); supervision_fee is the turnover-based annual fee (floor and cap given); capital_minimum is the paid-up registered capital. |
roughly EUR 75k to EUR 700k | roughly EUR 1.3m to EUR 1.4m | Low | 2026-07-07 |