Which class your services fall into
Nobody applies for "a crypto licence". You apply for named services, and the combination decides your class, your capital floor and roughly half the documents you will have to write.
The classes are cumulative. A class 3 provider may carry out every class 2 and class 1 service; a class 1 provider may not touch custody or exchange. So the binding figure is set by the single most demanding service on your list, add one custody line to an advisory business and the floor moves from €50,000 to €125,000.
Select at least one service.
The class shown is the highest class among the services you pick, because authorisation covers the whole set.
Annex IV sets permanent minimum capital of EUR 50 000 for class 1, EUR 125 000 for class 2 and EUR 150 000 for class 3, by reference to the crypto-asset services the provider is authorised for.
EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), consolidated text · Verified on 2026-09-14 · Next review 2027-03-14
The floor is not the requirement
Whatever figure the picker shows, it is a minimum that a live business frequently exceeds. Article 67 requires the higher of that floor and one quarter of your fixed overheads. A class 1 advisory firm spending €600,000 a year on fixed costs needs €150,000, not €50,000. The capital page works through the calculation.
What each class covers
| Class | Services it adds | Minimum capital |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 |
| €50,000 |
| Class 2 |
…plus everything in class 1. | €125,000 |
| Class 3 |
…plus everything in class 2. | €150,000 |
Services that drag extra documents behind them
Article 62(2) has a common core that every applicant files, and then service-specific items. These are the ones people miss when they scope a project, because they are not obvious from the service name.
| Service | Additional evidence |
|---|---|
| Execution of orders on behalf of clients | Execution policy (Article 62(2)(p)). |
| Providing advice on crypto-assets | Proof that the individuals advising have the necessary knowledge and expertise (Article 62(2)(q)). |
| Providing portfolio management on crypto-assets | Proof that the individuals managing portfolios have the necessary knowledge and expertise (Article 62(2)(q)). |
| Providing custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients | Custody and administration policy (Article 62(2)(m)). |
| Exchange of crypto-assets for funds | Non-discriminatory commercial policy and the methodology for determining price (Article 62(2)(o)). |
| Exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets | Non-discriminatory commercial policy and the methodology for determining price (Article 62(2)(o)). |
| Operation of a trading platform for crypto-assets | Operating rules of the platform, plus the procedure and system to detect market abuse (Article 62(2)(n)). |
Operating a trading platform is the sharpest example. It moves you to class 3, and it also obliges you to produce operating rules and a working market-abuse detection system, a build, not a document. Firms that describe themselves loosely as "an exchange" often mean the class 2 exchange services, where they trade against the client on their own account, and not a platform matching third-party interests at all. The two sit in different classes and need different evidence.
Regulatory references on this page were read against the primary text on 14 September 2026. Every figure is held in the source register with the document it came from.