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On-Chain Activity Regime
Gibraltar has no separate statutory licensing category dedicated solely to staking, DeFi lending, or decentralized exchange (DEX) protocols; instead, on-chain activities are assessed functionally against the two Schedule 2 Part 16 regulated activities under the Financial Services Act 2019 and the GFSC Guidance Note on Scope of the DLT Framework. Custodial staking or DeFi activities involving the storage or transmission of value belonging to others fall within the DLT Provider perimeter (para 140), whereas non-custodial by-way-of-business exchange or arrangement of virtual assets—including central-limit or arranged DEX-facilitation models operating by way of business in or from Gibraltar—falls to be assessed under the Virtual Asset Arrangement Provider perimeter (para 139A, effective 27 October 2025). On the tax side, Schedule 1 para (1A)(b) of the Income Tax Act 2010 expressly treats income generated from virtual assets—including lending virtual assets for use by another person or proof-of-stake validation—as 'similar amounts' to interest Where applicable statutory conditions are met.
no periodic updates on record for this sub-brief
Sources and findings (2)
- T1 · Gibraltar Financial Services CommissionGibraltar Financial Services Commission — On-chain activities (staking, DeFi lending, DEX facilitation) are regulated functionally under FSA 2019 Schedule 2 Part 16: custodial storage/transmission triggers the DLT Provider track (para 140), while non-custodial by-way-of-business virtual-asset exchange or arrangement triggers the VAA Provider track (para 139A).retrieved M4bindingin force
- T3 · CoinDeskCoinDesk — The GFSC signalled in November 2022 that DeFi lending was a focus area for supervisory development without enacting a standalone DeFi licensing statute separate from the DLT/VAA framework.retrieved M2non-bindingguidance