FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Jon Hautamäki, Max Atallah and Mikael Huhtala, Nordic Law
the pseudonymous or anonymous character of DeFi participants creates practical challenges for enforce- ment. Where an identifiable operator exists behind a nominally decentralised protocol, the FIN-FSA would treat that operator as a CASP and apply the full MiCA enforcement framework accordingly. In the absence of an identifiable operator, enforcement action is practi- cally difficult under current frameworks. This remains a developing area both in Finland and across the EU, and dedicated regulatory guidance on DeFi liability is anticipated as part of broader EU regulatory develop- ments in this space. Payments in crypto-assets are permitted in Finland but are not recognised as legal tender. Finnish law does not restrict parties from agreeing contractually to set- tle obligations in crypto-assets, and various payment service providers offer crypto-asset payment services. In practice, however, the use of crypto-assets for rou- tine payments has been limited by the tax implications involved, as every transaction using crypto-assets as a means of payment may constitute a taxable realisa- tion event. This has deterred widespread adoption for smaller everyday transactions, though crypto-assets have seen greater traction in large-scale financial transactions and funding rounds where the benefits may outweigh the tax consequences. 6. Payments and Stablecoins 6.1 Payments The regulatory treatment of crypto-asset payments depends on the nature of the asset and service involved. Where payments are made using EMTs, the dual legal character of EMTs under MiCA as both crypto-assets and electronic money means that cus- tody and transfer services involving EMTs constitute payment services requiring authorisation under both MiCA and PSD2, as clarified by the EBA’s June 2025 no-action letter. Exchange services involving EMTs, by contrast, fall solely within MiCA’s scope. This distinc- tion has significant practical implications for CASPs providing EMT-related services, who must either obtain a PSD2 licence in addition to their MiCA CASP authorisation or structure their operations in co-oper- ation with a PSD2-licensed payment service provider.
The anticipated introduction of PSD3 and the Pay- ment Services Regulation will represent a significant shift in the broader payments regulatory landscape and is expected to provide a more definitive resolution to the interaction between payment services regula- tion and crypto-asset services. Greater integration of EMTs into payment systems more broadly is also expected to increase the use of crypto-assets for pay- ments in Finland over time. 6.2 Stablecoins 6.2.1 Fiat Currency and Algorithmic Stablecoins MiCA draws a clear distinction between different categories of stablecoins based on their stabilisa- tion mechanism. EMTs are stablecoins that maintain stable value by referencing the value of one official currency and are backed by assets denominated in that currency on a par-to-par basis – for example, a euro-denominated stablecoin backed one-to-one by euro-denominated assets. ARTs maintain stable value by referencing other values, rights or a combination thereof, including baskets of currencies, commodities such as gold, or other assets. Where a stablecoin ref- erences multiple assets or non-currency assets, it falls within the ART category rather than the EMT category. Algorithmic stablecoins that do not reference an offi- cial currency or maintain backing assets, and instead rely solely on algorithms or protocols to maintain their peg, fall outside both the EMT and ART categories. MiCA effectively prohibits the issuance of crypto- assets purporting to maintain a stable value through algorithmic mechanisms alone, as such assets cannot meet the reserve asset and redemption requirements applicable to EMTs and ARTs. This represents a sig- nificant regulatory distinction with important conse- quences for issuers. The Finnish market provides a concrete example of the EMT framework in practice. Paxos Issuance Europe Oy, a licensed Finnish EMI, has issued USDG – a MiCA-compliant USD-denominated EMT – avail- able across the EEA, demonstrating the viability of Finland as a jurisdiction for regulated stablecoin issu- ance under MiCA.
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