BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Pierre E. Berger and Marc Van de Looverbosch, DLA Piper UK LLP (Brussels)
1. Overview of Blockchain and Crypto- Assets 1.1 Blockchain 1.1.1 Evolution of Uses of Blockchain Belgium’s blockchain market has moved from prepa- ration for EU crypto regulation to implementation. The most important legal development is that Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) is now the central framework for crypto-assets that are not financial instruments, with Titles III and IV on asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs) applying from 30 June 2024 and the remain- der applying from 30 December 2024. Belgium imple- mented the national parts of MiCA through the Law of 11 December 2025, which allocated supervisory responsibilities between the Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) and the National Bank of Belgium (NBB). Market practice has therefore become more compli- ance-driven. Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), banks, payment institutions, e-money institutions, trading platforms and token issuers are focusing on authorisation, notification, transitional arrangements, custody, outsourcing, anti-money laundering and consumer-facing communications. Belgium remains a cautious but pragmatic jurisdiction: regulators gen- erally do not discourage blockchain as a technology, but they do expect a clear legal qualification of the asset, service and client journey before a product is launched. Current use cases most commonly considered in Bel- gium include: • regulated crypto trading and custody; • tokenised securities; • digital bonds and post-trade settlement; • collateral mobility; • identity and credentials; • supply-chain and port logistics;
be integrated into existing securities, funds, payments or market infrastructure regulation. In financial mar- kets, the EU DLT Pilot Regime continues to provide a framework for market infrastructures using distributed ledger technology for financial instruments, although uptake across the EU remains gradual. Over the next 12 months, the main issues will be: • the end of the MiCA transitional period for CASPs on 1 July 2026; • implementation of MiCA Level 2 and Level 3 meas- ures; • the EU travel rule for transfers of crypto-assets; • tax changes for private capital gains; • DORA and outsourcing expectations; • data protection constraints; and • the legal enforceability of tokenised asset arrange- ments. Projects involving decentralised finance, staking, lending, non-custodial wallets or algorithmic stable- coins will require particularly careful analysis because their commercial design may not fit neatly within the MiCA perimeter. Blockchain business has interacted reasonably well with existing intellectual property law, provided the technology is not treated as a substitute for the legal transfer of rights. Belgian copyright, software, data- base, trade secret and contract law continue to apply. An NFT or other token does not, by itself, transfer copyright or a licence to use protected content unless the relevant rights are validly assigned or licensed. Blockchain can be useful as evidence of time-stamp- ing, provenance or transaction history, but the legal position still depends on the underlying contractual terms, the asset represented by the token and the applicable intellectual property regime. 1.1.2 Regulatory Sandbox Belgium does not have a broad regulatory sandbox for blockchain projects that allows firms to test prod- ucts under a waiver of ordinary regulatory require- ments. The principal innovation channel remains the FinTech Contact Point of the FSMA and the NBB. It allows fintech and blockchain businesses to present their model, ask preliminary regulatory questions and
• document certification; • secure self-custody; and • enterprise blockchain platforms.
Tokenisation and real-world asset structures are receiving more attention, particularly where they can
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