Crypto-asset businesses in the Netherlands and the rest of the EU are regulated by the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114). Since 30 June 2025, every provider of crypto services in the Netherlands needs a MiCA licence from the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM); a licence from one member state can be passported across the EU. The exception: crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments stay under existing financial markets law.
This replaced the earlier Dutch system, under which exchanges and custodian wallet providers only registered with De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) for anti-money-laundering purposes. Licences under MiCA could be used from 30 December 2024; the Dutch transitional period for registered providers ended on 30 June 2025.
MiCA эмнелерди камтыйт?
Three categories of crypto-asset, each with its own rules. Asset-referenced tokens reference a basket of values; e-money tokens reference a single official currency; all other crypto-assets form the third category. Issuers of the first two need authorisation and must meet reserve and redemption requirements; DNB grants new licences for asset-referenced tokens.
Issuers of other crypto-assets must publish a white paper with prescribed content and are liable for its accuracy. Service providers (exchanges, custodians, trading platforms, brokers, portfolio managers and advisers) need a licence that brings rules on governance, own funds, segregation of client assets, complaints and conflicts of interest. MiCA also contains a market abuse regime covering insider dealing and market manipulation. Fully decentralised arrangements without an identifiable service provider fall outside MiCA.
Акчаны адалдоого каршы кандай эрежелер колдонулат?
Crypto service providers are obliged entities under the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft): they must carry out customer due diligence, monitor transactions and report unusual ones. Supervision of Wwft and sanctions compliance for licensed providers has in principle moved from DNB to the AFM.
The Transfer of Funds Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1113), applicable since 30 December 2024, extends the travel rule to crypto: originator and beneficiary information must accompany each transfer. For a transfer above €1,000 involving a self-hosted wallet, the provider must verify whether that wallet belongs to or is controlled by its own customer.
Нидерландиянын мыйзамы сизде бар крипто-активдерге кандай мамиле кылат?
As an asset with value that can be transferred. The District Court of Amsterdam held that bitcoin has the characteristics of a property right (vermogensrecht), so a claim for payment in bitcoin can support a bankruptcy petition (ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2018:869, 14 February 2018). In practice, crypto is divided on divorce, forms part of an estate, can be attached by creditors and must be declared to the Dutch Tax Administration (Belastingdienst).
Access remains the recurring problem: assets whose private keys are lost are, in practice, gone, whatever the legal position.
Криптовалюта бизнеси катары эмнени текшеришиңиз керек?
- Does your activity qualify as a crypto-asset service that requires an AFM licence?
- If you issue a token, is it an asset-referenced token, an e-money token or another crypto-asset?
- Does your white paper meet MiCA’s content requirements?
- Can your systems apply the travel rule, including the €1,000 check on self-hosted wallets?
- Are client crypto-assets segregated from your own?
What should you check as a holder of crypto-assets?
- Is your provider licensed by the AFM or another EU supervisor? Check the public register.
- Are your assets segregated from the provider’s own assets?
- Have you recorded where your private keys are, for heirs or in a divorce?
- Have you declared your holdings to the Belastingdienst?
What can we do for you with crypto regulation?
биздин IT юристтери advise crypto businesses and holders. We can:
- Assess whether your activity requires a MiCA licence and prepare the AFM application.
- Classify your token and review the white paper.
- Draft Wwft and travel-rule procedures.
- Act in disputes about crypto-assets, including attachment, recovery and bankruptcy claims.
Жыйынтык
- Since 30 June 2025, crypto services in the Netherlands need a MiCA licence from the AFM, passportable across the EU.
- Token issuers face different rules for asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens and other crypto-assets.
- Crypto service providers are Wwft-obliged entities and must apply the travel rule.
- Dutch courts treat bitcoin as a transferable asset with value: it features in divorces, estates, tax returns and enforcement.
