Why Crypto Firms Are Revisiting Their Permissions in 2026
Three different regulatory clocks are running. Czechia and Spain have moved beyond MiCA’s legacy transition. Brazil has an October filing deadline for eligible existing providers. The UK is opening applications ahead of a regime that begins in 2027. New Zealand remains a useful contrast because registration and financial-product licensing are distinct, while Hong Kong already operates a dedicated platform-authorisation framework.
The comparison below covers ordinary crypto services, with extra requirements where the business model demands them. It is not a comparison of stablecoin-issuer licences, securities exchanges or derivatives permissions. Those activities need their own legal analysis.
Czechia and Spain: The Same MiCA Capital Rules, Different Home Supervisors
FinanceFeeds’ Czech licence explainer used €150,000 in its headline. Its underlying distinction is more useful: MiCA Annex IV sets service-based minimums of €50,000, €125,000 and €150,000. Operating a trading platform falls in the highest class. Custody and exchange services without platform operation fall in the second.
Article 67 requires safeguards equal to the higher of the applicable minimum and one quarter of annual fixed overheads. New businesses use projections. Qualifying own funds, compliant insurance or a comparable guarantee, or a combination, can satisfy the safeguards under the regulation. The headline number is consequently neither a government fee nor a universal cash-only startup budget.
The Czech National Bank’s MiCA guidance establishes its supervisory role. For applicants, a credible operating model, management and controls matter alongside financial resources. Purchasing an old trade-licence company does not recreate the previous regime.
The commercial estimates also need attribution. Manimama, the consultancy linked by the earlier article, quotes about €800 in state fees, advisory costs from €60,000 and annual costs of €7,000–€20,000. Those are provider estimates, not a CNB tariff for the entire project. They should not be presented as a universal minimum or a guaranteed all-in price.
Spain’s position is explicit: the CNMV says only appropriately authorised providers may operate from 1 July 2026. Its guidance permits entry by firms authorised elsewhere in the EU after the required notification. As FinanceFeeds reported on the Spanish cutoff, pending applications are not an indefinite extension of legacy operating rights.
MiCA Article 63 provides a 25-working-day completeness assessment and a 40-working-day substantive assessment once complete, with provisions for additional information. These are regulatory stages, not a promise to launch within 65 working days of hiring a lawyer. Preparation and remediation sit outside that simple addition.
Hong Kong: A Platform Licence Includes Operational Tests
Hong Kong’s SFC application guidance distinguishes the AMLO virtual-asset service licence from SFO Types 1 and 7 permissions. The listed corporate application charge is HK$4,740 for the VA service and HK$4,740 per SFO regulated activity. Responsible-person applications and continuing fees are additional; one corporate fee is not the whole bill.
The platform guidelines’ financial-soundness provisions require HK$5 million paid-up capital, liquid capital of at least the higher of HK$3 million and the applicable basic amount, and sufficiently liquid assets maintained in Hong Kong equivalent to 12 months’ operating expenses. These are different tests, not three amounts to add mechanically.
The practical burden includes demonstrating that controls work. The SFC’s inspection findings address cybersecurity, client-asset safeguarding and know-your-client processes. The application framework also calls for external assessment. FinanceFeeds’ Hong Kong requirements guide explains why staffing and custody architecture can matter more than the filing charge. No guaranteed end-to-end approval period is assumed here.
Brazil: 30 October Is a Filing Deadline, Not Approval Day
Article 9 of BCB Normative Instruction 704, dated 29 January 2026, gives qualifying existing providers until “30 de outubro de 2026” to submit their Phase 1 authorisation package. This is the instrument’s stated date, not a deadline calculated from a generic transition period.
IN 739 of 29 May 2026 adds an independent reasonable-assurance report to the process. Demarest’s legal analysis identifies the revised assurance requirements. Policies must support an auditor’s assessment, not merely exist in a folder. FinanceFeeds’ Brazil filing guide covers that preparation bottleneck.
The counterparty restriction needs equal precision. Article 91 of Resolution BCB 520 applies from 30 October 2026 to regulated institutions executing or facilitating virtual-asset operations with providers that are neither authorised nor in the authorisation process, subject to its exceptions. It does not say every applicant must already hold final approval that day.
Capital is also model-dependent. Joint Resolution 14 establishes a calculation methodology rather than a universal licence price. TRM Labs summarises requirements as R$10.8 million–R$37.2 million, but that secondary range is not a substitute for calculating an applicant’s requirement under the current rules.
New Zealand: Registration Is Not a Prudential Crypto Licence
The FMA’s crypto-service guidance separates financial services from financial products. Ordinary spot exchange activity can require FSPR registration and AML/CFT compliance without a bespoke exchange licence. Trading tokens that qualify as financial products, or offering derivatives or managed investment products, can trigger additional licensing obligations.
The official FSPR schedule lists NZ$345 including GST for the application, NZ$690 for the initial FMA levy and NZ$13 per person for criminal-history checks. The first two total NZ$1,035 before checks, dispute-resolution membership and operating expenses. Annual confirmation costs NZ$75 plus GST, with service-dependent levies additional.
Companies Office guidance gives two to five working days for criminal-history checks, not for building an AML-ready exchange. The FMA identifies DIA as the sole AML/CFT supervisor from 1 July 2026. FinanceFeeds’ New Zealand explainer should therefore be read as a registration-and-obligations guide, not a low-cost equivalent of MiCA approval.
The UK Gateway: The FCA Now Names the Opening Day
The FCA’s current preparation guidance gives an application period from 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027. The new regime starts on 25 October 2027. Earlier wording referring only to September should not override that dated guidance.
Existing MLR registration is not automatic authorisation for the new activities. Firms need the relevant FSMA permission, including a variation where appropriate. The FCA’s gateway guidance distinguishes timely applications and the treatment of firms outside the application period. Filing timing matters independently of the eventual merits decision.
The MLR fee rules place registration in Category 6. Future FSMA fees and prudential requirements must be checked against the final rules for the chosen activities; consultation figures should not be silently relabelled final charges. The FCA confirms final rules were published on 30 June, but a complete final activity-by-activity fee and capital schedule was not verified for this comparison.
Crypto Licence Comparison: Fees, Capital, Timeline and Business Fit
Amounts below retain their original currencies. “Not verified” does not mean free. Business-fit observations are editorial comparisons, not recommendations to bypass another country’s rules.
| Jurisdiction | Fee or Entry Cost | Capital / Safeguards | Timeline / Deadline | Business Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Czechia | About €800 state fee: consultancy estimate, not independently checked against the tariff | MiCA €50k/€125k/€150k tiers; overhead test may be higher | 25-day completeness and 40-day substantive working-day stages; no launch guarantee | EU CASP with a substantive Czech base |
| Spain | Current CASP-specific official fee not verified | Same MiCA safeguards as Czechia | Same MiCA stages; legacy transition ended 1 July 2026 | Spanish operations or notified entry from an EU-authorised CASP |
| Hong Kong | HK$4,740 per relevant corporate service/activity; other fees additional | HK$5m paid-up; HK$3m liquid-capital floor subject to formula; 12-month expense liquidity | External assessment and regulatory review; no guaranteed duration | Platform able to fund local operational controls |
| Brazil | Official filing fee not verified; assurance and professional costs additional | Activity-based calculation; TRM’s R$10.8m–R$37.2m is a secondary summary | Existing-provider Phase 1 filing by 30 October 2026; not final approval deadline | Domestic operation prepared for BCB supervision |
| New Zealand | NZ$1,035 initial application and levy incl. GST, plus NZ$13 per check | No bespoke spot-exchange capital floor identified in the cited framework; product-specific rules may apply | Checks: 2–5 working days; not a complete launch timeline | Genuine NZ-facing spot service, not a prudential passport |
| UK | MLR Category 6; final FSMA activity fees require confirmation | MLR registration is not the new prudential regime; final activity-specific amounts require confirmation | Gateway 30 Sept 2026–28 Feb 2027; regime 25 Oct 2027 | UK-facing firm preparing for expanded authorisation |
Australia is a separate deadline, not a seventh licence in this table. ASIC’s no-action position sets 30 September 2026 for relevant AFS applications or variations. Market and clearing-facility applicants have notification and pre-application-meeting conditions. The scope concerns digital-asset financial products and services, not an automatic licensing requirement for every token business.
The decision should start with permitted activities and customers, then capital, people, controls and realistic implementation time. A cheap registration that does not cover the intended service is not a saving. A larger capital commitment is not an application fee. Keeping those distinctions visible makes the comparison useful after the next deadline passes.
