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🇮🇸 Crypto license in Iceland: who holds one

1 company hold a MiCA crypto-asset service provider licence granted in Iceland by Central Bank of Iceland, and a further 151 licensed elsewhere in the EEA may operate there through passporting. Everything below comes from the official ESMA register, refreshed daily.

1
Licensed in Iceland
25th of 30 EEA countries
152
May operate here
including passported providers
0
Warnings
entities flagged by this regulator
1
Stablecoin issuers
EMT/ART issuers based here
0
White papers
notified via this regulator

Who grants the licence in Iceland

Competent authority
Central Bank of Iceland — official website
Designated under
Article 93 of MiCA, as notified to ESMA
Licences granted
1 active, the 25th largest of the 30 EEA countries (out of 365 in the EEA)
First licence
25 June 2026

What a crypto licence in Iceland requires

MiCA is a single EU rulebook: the requirements are the same in Iceland as anywhere else in the European Economic Area, and only the authority reviewing the file changes. An applicant files with Central Bank of Iceland under Article 62, describing the services it intends to offer, its governance, the fitness of its managers and shareholders, its ICT systems, how it segregates client assets and how it handles complaints.

The company itself must have substance in the Union: a registered office in a Member State where it actually carries out part of its services, its effective management in the EU, and at least one director resident in the EU (Article 59(2)). A bank, investment firm or e-money institution does not need a new licence — it notifies its regulator under Article 60 instead, which is why familiar banks appear in the register alongside crypto-native firms.

The timetable set by the regulation

Minimum capital, by what the provider is allowed to do

ClassMinimum capitalServices coveredProviders serving Iceland
Class 1 EUR 50,000 Brokerage-style services: executing orders, placing crypto-assets, transfers, receiving and transmitting orders, advice and portfolio management. 4
Class 2 EUR 125,000 Everything in class 1 plus holding client assets or trading against them: custody and administration, exchange for funds, exchange for other crypto-assets. 134
Class 3 EUR 150,000 Everything in class 2 plus operating a trading platform for crypto-assets. 14

Annex IV to MiCA, applied through Article 67: a provider must hold the higher of the amount above and one quarter of its previous year's fixed overheads. The last column places each provider that may serve clients in Iceland in the class of the heaviest service it is authorised for. Full text: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 · plain-language version: our MiCA guide.

The 1 provider licensed in Iceland

Authorised by Central Bank of Iceland and reported to ESMA. Open one to see the exact services and the countries it may serve.

Crypto services available in Iceland

How many active providers — licensed here or passported in — may offer each of the ten MiCA services to clients in Iceland.

125
a. Custody and administration
14
b. Operating a trading platform
112
c. Exchange for funds
96
d. Exchange for other crypto-assets
75
e. Execution of orders
22
f. Placing of crypto-assets
43
g. Reception and transmission of orders
11
h. Advice on crypto-assets
22
i. Portfolio management
120
j. Transfer services

Passported into Iceland

151 providers licensed in another EEA state that notified Iceland for at least one service.

Stablecoin issuers based in Iceland

Questions about crypto licensing in Iceland

Is crypto legal in Iceland?

Yes. Buying, holding and trading crypto-assets is legal in Iceland. Since 30 December 2024 the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) applies there, so any company offering crypto services as a business must be authorised — by Central Bank of Iceland or by another EEA regulator that has notified Iceland under the passporting rules.

Which crypto exchanges are licensed in Iceland?

1 provider hold a licence granted in Iceland, including Myntkaup. A further 151 licensed elsewhere in the EEA may operate there through passporting, such as 21bitcoin, AK JENSEN NORWAY AS, Alaric Securities, Amdax B.V., AMINA EU.

Who issues the crypto licence in Iceland?

Central Bank of Iceland is the competent authority designated under Article 93 of MiCA. It receives applications, grants or refuses the authorisation, supervises the provider afterwards and reports it to ESMA for the EU-wide register.

How long does it take to get a MiCA licence?

The regulation sets the clock, not the regulator: the authority acknowledges the application within 5 working days, has 25 working days to check that it is complete, and then 40 working days from a complete file to grant or refuse, with a reasoned decision notified within 5 working days (Article 63 of MiCA). Time spent completing a file that was filed incomplete does not count.

How much capital does a crypto licence require?

Annex IV of MiCA sets a permanent minimum of EUR 50,000 for brokerage-type services, EUR 125,000 once the provider holds client assets or exchanges them, and EUR 150,000 for operating a trading platform. A provider must hold whichever is higher: that floor, or one quarter of the previous year's fixed overheads (Article 67).

Can I use a crypto exchange licensed in another EU country?

Yes, if it has notified Iceland under MiCA's passporting rules. 152 providers may currently serve clients in Iceland; each provider's page on this site lists the countries it notified, service by service.

Using a crypto provider in Iceland

A resident of Iceland can legally use any provider on this page: those licensed by the local authority and those that passported in. What matters is that the exact company and domain you deal with is the one in the register — a licensed brand can have unlicensed affiliates, and the licence covers only the services listed on the provider's page.

If a provider serving Iceland is missing here, it may be a bank or investment firm acting under Article 60 (they appear in the register too, under their legal name), or it may be operating without authorisation. The check tool looks up both lists at once, by name or by website.

Source: the interim MiCA register published by ESMA, plus the list of competent authorities notified under Article 93. This page is an independent index, not a statement by Central Bank of Iceland, and it is not legal advice. How the data is processed.