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🇷🇴 Crypto license in Romania: who holds one

No crypto-asset service provider has been licensed in Romania yet — but 172 providers authorised elsewhere in the EEA have notified Romania and may legally serve clients there. Everything below comes from the official ESMA register, refreshed daily.

0
Licensed in Romania
none yet
172
May operate here
including passported providers
0
Warnings
entities flagged by this regulator
0
Stablecoin issuers
EMT/ART issuers based here
0
White papers
notified via this regulator

Who grants the licence in Romania

Romania has not yet formally designated its competent authority for MiCA: ESMA's official list, last updated 17 February 2026, still shows it as to be announced. In practice, applications are handled by the financial supervisory authority ASF. No provider has been authorised in Romania so far. Until that is settled, a company that wants to serve clients in Romania normally gets authorised in another EEA state and notifies Romania under the passporting rules.

What a crypto licence in Romania requires

MiCA is a single EU rulebook: the requirements are the same in Romania as anywhere else in the European Economic Area, and only the authority reviewing the file changes. An applicant files with the authority of its home Member State 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 Romania
Class 1 EUR 50,000 Brokerage-style services: executing orders, placing crypto-assets, transfers, receiving and transmitting orders, advice and portfolio management. 5
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. 150
Class 3 EUR 150,000 Everything in class 2 plus operating a trading platform for crypto-assets. 17

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

Crypto services available in Romania

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

139
a. Custody and administration
17
b. Operating a trading platform
126
c. Exchange for funds
107
d. Exchange for other crypto-assets
85
e. Execution of orders
24
f. Placing of crypto-assets
43
g. Reception and transmission of orders
15
h. Advice on crypto-assets
24
i. Portfolio management
133
j. Transfer services

Passported into Romania

172 providers licensed in another EEA state that notified Romania for at least one service.

Questions about crypto licensing in Romania

Is crypto legal in Romania?

Yes. Buying, holding and trading crypto-assets is legal in Romania. 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 the national competent authority or by another EEA regulator that has notified Romania under the passporting rules.

Which crypto exchanges are licensed in Romania?

No provider has been licensed by the local regulator yet. A further 172 licensed elsewhere in the EEA may operate there through passporting, such as 21bitcoin, 360 Treasury Systems AG, Acheron, Alaric Securities, AlphaRoute.

Who issues the crypto licence in Romania?

Romania has not yet formally designated a competent authority for MiCA: ESMA's official list, last updated 17 February 2026, still shows it as to be announced.

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 Romania under MiCA's passporting rules. 172 providers may currently serve clients in Romania; each provider's page on this site lists the countries it notified, service by service.

Using a crypto provider in Romania

A resident of Romania 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 Romania 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 any regulator, and it is not legal advice. How the data is processed.