Gibraltar: Crypto Licensing

Crypto Licensing

Gibraltar regulates cryptoasset business under Schedule 2 Part 16 of the Financial Services Act 2019 (retitled 'Value stored or transmitted by database and virtual asset arrangements' by the Financial Services (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, LN 2025/254, in force 27 October 2025) and the renamed Financial Services (DLT Providers and VAA Providers) Regulations 2020 (LN 2020/012). Two distinct Part 7 GFSC authorisation tracks apply: (1) DLT Providers using distributed ledger technology by way of business to store or transmit value belonging to others (Schedule 2 para 140), and (2) Virtual Asset Arrangement Providers (VAAPs) providing virtual asset arrangements (fiat-to-virtual-asset or virtual-asset-to-virtual-asset exchange and arrangement services, Schedule 2 para 139A, subject to para 139B exclusions). Under LN 2025/254 transitional sub-regulations (2)–(4), existing VAA businesses were required to give written notice to the GFSC within 14 days of 27 October 2025 and submit a Part 7 application within six months (extendable by the GFSC in exceptional circumstances), and may continue operating pending determination. Initial Part 7 applications follow the GFSC Staged Application for Authorisation Approach (Stages 1–3 plus optional Stage 4 mobilisation of 3–6 months). Token issuers selling their own tokens remain subject to the POCA 2015 (Relevant Financial Business) (Registration) Regulations 2021, while VAA businesses moved out of the AML-only registration regime and are being transitioned into the DLT Framework in 2026. Under regulation 5A of the DLT Regulations and the GFSC Guidance Note on Notification of Dividend Payments (16 July 2026, paras 2.2–2.3), a DLT or VAA provider must give at least 30 days' prior complete notice (including Appendix I documentation) before declaring or making any dividend or capital distribution (including capital repayments of a loan to a parent or holding company). Under the Financial Services (Fees) Regulations 2020 (LN 2020/040, consolidated 3 September 2026, Schedules 1B, 2 and 2A; LN 2025/257 effective 1 April 2026), the obsolete Category 1–3 fee model no longer applies: DLT and VAA providers in Fee Block G1 pay a £12,254 base annual fee, a 0.1% trade activity fee (DLT: reported volume of trade; VAA: value of trades arranged) capped at £92,700 on the trade-activity component, and a £28,183 additional annual fee, plus a separate £4,017 annual AML supervision fee (Schedule 1B) and £407 per approved individual annually (Schedule 2A, with a £788 application fee where made separately from the firm licence application). A £45,000 one-off firm Part 7 application fee is carried forward from draft practitioner tables pending primary verification of the current Schedule 1 row. Holding another FSA permission does not grant a blanket DLT/VAA exemption: the incidental-activity route in FSA Schedule 2 para 141 (read with para 140 and GFSC Scope Guidance para 5.5) is conditional, must be verified on current statutory conditions before reliance, and does not automatically exclude separate VAA activity under para 139A. Carrying on a regulated activity without authorisation is prohibited by FSA s.8 (practitioner sources cite criminal penalties of up to 2 years' imprisonment and/or a fine; exact penalty section subject to pinpoint check).