Skip to content

TOOL · MiCA · CASP

CASP test

Compliance test · MiCA

Do you need a CASP licence?

Answer 8 quick questions about the crypto-asset services your company provides and find out whether the CASP authorisation regime under MiCA applies to you.

Question 1 of 6 0%

Do I need a MiCA (CASP) license? How the test works

You need authorization as a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) if you provide any of the ten services listed in Art. 3(1)(16) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) to clients on a professional basis, unless you are one of the financial institutions covered by Art. 60 or you only deal in tokenized financial instruments. In Spain the competent authority is the CNMV (Art. 251(h) of Law 6/2023), and the transitional period ended on July 1, 2026. The test reviews your case in a few minutes.

How the test works

It asks eight yes-or-no questions, one per service or pair of related services. Together they cover MiCA's ten services: custody and administration on behalf of clients; operation of a trading platform; exchange of crypto-assets for funds or for other crypto-assets; execution of orders on behalf of clients; advice or portfolio management; placing; transfer services on behalf of clients; and reception and transmission of orders. Each question includes a clarification: for example, investing for your own account, with no clients, does not count as exchange.

If you answer "no" to all of them, the result is "You do not provide CASP services," with a reminder to check whether you issue or intermediate financial instruments (MiFID II). If you answer "yes" to any, a final question follows: do all those services relate only to tokenized financial instruments? If so, the test points you to MiFID II and Law 6/2023, because MiCA does not apply to financial instruments (Art. 2(4)(a)). If not, it concludes that you probably need CASP authorization from the CNMV, lists the services you selected and notes that the transitional period is over: a pending application does not cover the activity (Art. 143(3) of MiCA).

What it does not assess

It is for guidance only and is not legal advice. It does not check whether you are already a credit institution, an investment firm or another entity listed in Art. 59(1)(b), which may provide certain crypto-asset services, depending on the type of entity, by notifying their competent authority (Art. 60). Nor does it analyze the exclusion for services provided only within your group (Art. 2(2)(a)) or reverse solicitation by clients of non-EU firms (Art. 61).

Further reading

Frequently asked questions

What is a CASP license?

It is the authorization MiCA requires in Art. 59 to provide crypto-asset services in the EU. The competent authority of the home Member State grants it (Art. 63); in Spain, the CNMV. With it, you can provide services in other Member States through the cross-border procedure in Art. 65.

Can I keep operating while the CNMV reviews my application?

No. Art. 143(3) of MiCA allowed firms that already provided services under applicable law before December 30, 2024 to continue until July 1, 2026 at the latest. The CNMV confirmed that Spain's transitional period ended on that date. Since then you need a granted authorization, or the Art. 60 notification if you are one of the financial institutions it covers.

If I only work with tokenized securities, do I need a CASP license?

No, because MiCA does not apply to crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments (Art. 2(4)(a)). But MiFID II and Law 6/2023 apply instead: executing orders, managing portfolios or giving advice on tokenized securities are investment services (MiFID II, Annex I, Section A), and providing them as a regular business requires prior authorization (Art. 5(1) of MiFID II).

Official sources

Framework verified as of October 14, 2026. If you are planning to provide crypto-asset services in Spain, talk to us.