ROMANIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Alexandru Stanescu, Simina Negulescu, Stefan Gheorghe and Ioana Vișan, Lexters
Lexters Heleșteului street, no 17 Bucharest Romania Tel: +40 745 772 762 Email: contact@lexters.com Web: www.lexters.com
Romania’s Blockchain Ecosystem in 2026 In 2026, Romania’s blockchain compliance ecosystem is defined by which licence applies, which authority is competent, and the applicable timeline – rather than by gaps in the regulatory framework. For operators, that transition is an advantage, as it replaces uncer- tainty with a clear route to market. What makes the Romanian legal system distinctive, both in terms of its strength and its complexity, is that there is no single, “blockchain law”. Blockchain-based products and services are assessed against the exist- ing body of law that governs the activity they perform or the asset they involve. Technology is the delivery mechanism, and the legal classification follows the substance. This integration-first approach means that operators building on blockchain in Romania must map their specific use case against a multi-layered framework. The directly applicable EU regulations governing cryp- to-asset businesses in Romania include: • MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114); • DORA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554); • the AMLR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, applicable from 10 July 2027); and • eIDAS 2.0 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183). Romanian implementing legislation designates com- petent authorities, allocates supervisory powers, sets local procedures and deals with matters left to mem- ber state discretion. Sector-specific rules around pay- ments, capital markets, consumer protection and data governance overlay this foundation, depending on the nature of the project. The sections that follow chart
the main legal considerations relevant to blockchain projects active in Romania in 2026. MiCA Implementation in Romania: the ASF, BNR and Dual-Authority Model Romania has adopted a dual-authority model in its draft Government Emergency Ordinance implement- ing MiCA (the “MiCA GEO Draft”), allocating supervi- sory responsibilities between the ASF (the Financial Supervisory Authority) and the BNR (the National Bank of Romania). The ASF is the competent authority for: • issuance of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs); • issuance of crypto-assets other than ARTs or e-money tokens (EMTs); and • the entire catalogue of crypto-asset services listed in MiCA, including crypto-ATM operation. The BNR covers EMT issuance by credit institutions and electronic money institutions already under its prudential supervision. The ASF acts as the single point of contact with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA); the BNR with the European Banking Authority (EBA). This allocation gives crypto- asset operators in Romania well-defined institutional entry points: the ASF for most CASP authorisations and ARTs; the BNR for EMTs issued by supervised institutions. From a business perspective, the MiCA GEO Draft is an encouraging signal. Romania is expected to imple- ment MiCA without gold-plating as the national layer focuses on designating competent authorities, setting the sanctions framework and addressing the limited areas left to member state discretion, rather than add- ing substantive requirements on top of the EU regime.
545 CHAMBERS.COM
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