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🇳🇱 Crypto license in the Netherlands: who holds one

28 companies hold a MiCA crypto-asset service provider licence granted in the Netherlands by AFM, and a further 175 licensed elsewhere in the EEA may operate there through passporting. Everything below comes from the official ESMA register, refreshed daily.

28
Licensed in Netherlands
3rd of 30 EEA countries
203
May operate here
including passported providers
1
Warnings
entities flagged by this regulator
3
Stablecoin issuers
EMT/ART issuers based here
80
White papers
notified via this regulator

Who grants the licence in the Netherlands

Competent authority
Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) — official website
Designated under
Article 93 of MiCA, as notified to ESMA
Licences granted
28 active, the 3rd largest of the 30 EEA countries (out of 365 in the EEA)
First licence
30 December 2024 · most recent 16 July 2026
Good to know
The AFM is the competent authority for crypto-asset service providers; De Nederlandsche Bank supervises banks and e-money institutions that provide crypto services.

What a crypto licence in the Netherlands requires

MiCA is a single EU rulebook: the requirements are the same in the Netherlands as anywhere else in the European Economic Area, and only the authority reviewing the file changes. An applicant files with AFM 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 the Netherlands
Class 1 EUR 50,000 Brokerage-style services: executing orders, placing crypto-assets, transfers, receiving and transmitting orders, advice and portfolio management. 10
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. 175
Class 3 EUR 150,000 Everything in class 2 plus operating a trading platform for crypto-assets. 18

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 the Netherlands in the class of the heaviest service it is authorised for. Full text: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 · plain-language version: our MiCA guide.

The 29 providers licensed in the Netherlands

Authorised by AFM and reported to ESMA. Open one to see the exact services and the countries it may serve.

Crypto services available in the Netherlands

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

162
a. Custody and administration
18
b. Operating a trading platform
142
c. Exchange for funds
120
d. Exchange for other crypto-assets
102
e. Execution of orders
25
f. Placing of crypto-assets
50
g. Reception and transmission of orders
22
h. Advice on crypto-assets
32
i. Portfolio management
154
j. Transfer services

Passported into the Netherlands

175 providers licensed in another EEA state that notified the Netherlands for at least one service.

Warnings issued in the Netherlands

Entities the regulator in the Netherlands has listed as providing crypto-asset services without authorisation, most recent first.

Stablecoin issuers based in the Netherlands

Questions about crypto licensing in the Netherlands

Is crypto legal in the Netherlands?

Yes. Buying, holding and trading crypto-assets is legal in the Netherlands. 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 Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) or by another EEA regulator that has notified the Netherlands under the passporting rules.

Which crypto exchanges are licensed in the Netherlands?

28 providers hold a licence granted in the Netherlands, including Acheron, Amdax B.V., Ari10, AvianLabs Netherlands B.V., Bitmymoney B.V.. A further 175 licensed elsewhere in the EEA may operate there through passporting, such as 21bitcoin, 360 Treasury Systems AG, Alaric Securities, Altcoins, AMINA EU.

Who issues the crypto licence in the Netherlands?

Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) 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 the Netherlands under MiCA's passporting rules. 203 providers may currently serve clients in the Netherlands; each provider's page on this site lists the countries it notified, service by service.

Using a crypto provider in the Netherlands

A resident of the Netherlands 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 the Netherlands 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 AFM, and it is not legal advice. How the data is processed.