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Lithuania

Crypto license in Lithuania

EU MiCA (CASP)Last reviewed 2026-08-24

Do you need a crypto license in Lithuania?

Yes, and Lithuania enforced the switch harder than any other country covered here. It set a national transition deadline six months ahead of the EU backstop, let it pass without extension, and ended up with six authorized firms where roughly 850 registrations had once existed.

Read this before you plan an application

A Lithuanian virtual asset registration from the old regime confers no right to operate. It stopped doing so on 31 December 2025, a deadline the Bank of Lithuania set ahead of the European backstop and enforced without extension.

Lithuania ran the largest light touch crypto regime in the European Union, and then closed it. Virtual currency exchange operators and wallet operators needed only an entry in the Register of Legal Entities, supervised for anti-money-laundering purposes by the Financial Crime Investigation Service, and around 850 firms held that status at the peak in late 2022. The Law on Markets in Crypto-Assets set a national transition deadline of 31 December 2025, six months earlier than the European Union required, and the Bank of Lithuania declined to extend it. Only 102 applications were filed across the whole of 2025, and six firms hold an authorization now.

Key facts

Regime
EU MiCA (CASP)
Regulator
Lietuvos bankas (Bank of Lithuania)
Framework
Law on Markets in Crypto-Assets (2024)
Application fee
The Bank of Lithuania does not publish a fee schedule for crypto-asset service provider authorization
Minimum capital
EUR 50,000, EUR 125,000 or EUR 150,000 depending on the class of services, set EU-wide by MiCA Annex IV
Time to license
MiCA allows 25 working days for the completeness check and 40 working days for the assessment. The Bank of Lithuania stated publicly that many applications filed in 2025 fell short of the minimum requirements, which is what stretches real timelines.
Foreign owners
A company incorporated outside the European Union cannot hold the authorization directly and must apply through a Lithuanian subsidiary or branch. At least one board member must be resident in the European Union and the anti-money-laundering officer must be resident in Lithuania.

The framework

The Law on Markets in Crypto-Assets was adopted in July 2024, and the authorization regime took effect on 30 December 2024 alongside MiCA's own application date across the European Union. The Bank of Lithuania is the competent authority.

The old regime and how it ended

Before MiCA, a Lithuanian crypto business needed a registration rather than a licence: an entry in the Register of Legal Entities, with anti-money-laundering supervision from the Financial Crime Investigation Service. That produced roughly 850 registered firms by late 2022, and Lithuania became one of the standard answers to the question of where to set up cheaply inside the European Union.

The Bank of Lithuania set the transition deadline at 31 December 2025, six months ahead of the backstop MiCA allowed, and did not move it. From 1 January 2026 a firm without an authorization lost the right to take on clients, hold client assets or continue providing services. Across all of 2025 only 102 applications were filed, and the central bank said publicly that many of them did not meet the minimum requirements.

What you can apply for

The three classes come from MiCA Annex IV and are identical in every member state. Custody and administration is Class 2 at EUR 125,000, alongside the two exchange services. Running a trading platform is Class 3 at EUR 150,000.

Costs

The Bank of Lithuania does not publish a fee schedule for this authorization, so the reliable numbers are the capital floors set by MiCA and the cost of building a file that passes review.

Substance

Lithuania asks for more local presence than most. Expect a Lithuanian company, at least one board member resident in the European Union, a full time anti-money-laundering officer resident in Lithuania and working for no one else, a physical office, and a corporate bank account opened before filing.

What to watch

Revolut holds its European banking licence in Lithuania but took its MiCA authorization elsewhere: CySEC in Cyprus granted it licence CASP001/25 in October 2025. The country's fintech reputation has not automatically carried into crypto authorization.

License classes in Lithuania

License classes, the activities each covers, and their fees and capital requirements where published.
ClassCoversFeeCapital
Class 1Reception and transmission of orders, execution of orders on behalf of clients, placing of crypto-assets, transfer services on behalf of clients, advice on crypto-assets, portfolio management of crypto-assetsNot publishedEUR 50,000
Class 2Custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients, exchange of crypto-assets for funds, exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assetsNot publishedEUR 125,000
Class 3Operation of a trading platform for crypto-assetsNot publishedEUR 150,000

What the application requires

  • Lithuanian company, or a subsidiary or branch where the parent is outside the European Union
  • At least one board member resident in the European Union
  • Full time anti-money-laundering officer resident in Lithuania and employed by no other firm
  • Physical office in Lithuania
  • Corporate bank account opened before the application is filed
  • Paid up own funds matching the class applied for
  • Operational resilience programme aligned with DORA

The application process

  1. Form the company

    Register a Lithuanian company with the register of legal entities

  2. Put the substance in place

    Appoint the resident compliance officer and board member, and take a real office

  3. Open the bank account

    A corporate account must exist before the application is filed

  4. Build the file

    Business plan, anti-money-laundering policy, risk framework, resilience programme and fit and proper files

  5. Apply

    File the application with the Bank of Lithuania

  6. Completeness check

    A 25 working day review of whether the file is complete

  7. Substantive assessment

    A 40 working day review follows, extendable while questions are answered

  8. Authorization

    On approval the firm enters the EU register and can passport across the bloc

Costs and taxation

Because the Bank of Lithuania publishes no authorization fee, any figure quoted for one is an adviser's estimate rather than a charge set by the regulator. The capital floors and the compliance build are the costs that can be stated with confidence.

Lithuania raised its corporate income tax rate to 17 percent from January 2026. Small companies with fewer than ten employees and under EUR 300,000 of revenue can qualify for a reduced rate, 0 percent for the first two years and 7 percent afterwards.

Who is licensed today

Six firms hold a Bank of Lithuania authorization on the pan-EU register maintained by ESMA, against roughly 850 registrations under the regime that preceded it.

Planning a license application in Lithuania?

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Frequently asked questions

Is the old Lithuanian crypto registration still valid?

No. It ceased to confer any right to operate on 31 December 2025, and firms without an authorization had to stop serving clients from 1 January 2026.

How many crypto companies are licensed in Lithuania now?

Six, against roughly 850 registrations at the peak of the regime that came before.

Why did so few Lithuanian firms get authorized?

Only 102 applications were filed across 2025, and the Bank of Lithuania said many of them did not meet the minimum requirements.

Who regulates crypto companies in Lithuania?

The Bank of Lithuania, which replaced the lighter registration regime supervised by the Financial Crime Investigation Service.

Can a foreign company hold a Lithuanian crypto authorization?

Not directly if it is incorporated outside the European Union. It has to apply through a Lithuanian subsidiary or branch.

Sources

Buying bitcoin as an individual is a different question entirely: how to buy bitcoin in Lithuania covers exchanges, payment methods and legality for residents, and the crypto license hub compares every jurisdiction we track.

Crypto licenses in other jurisdictions