ESTONIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Yuliya Barabash, Ivan Nevzorov, Daria Lysenko and Nikita Prokopenko, SBSB FinTech Lawyers
Crypto Regulation and Doing Business in Estonia – What Participants Need to Know Regulatory framework Authorisation under MiCA The global landscape for digital finance is undergoing a fundamental shift towards institutional-grade regu - lation. In the European Union, the entry into force of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on 30 December 2024 has established a rigorous bench - mark for transparency and security. Estonia, building on its reputation as a digital pioneer, has proactively aligned its domestic legal framework with these pan-European standards. In addition to the general MiCA framework, Estonia adopted the Cryp - to Market Act ( krüptovaraturu seadus – CMA), which regulates certain aspects of the activities, liability, supervision and termination of participants in crypto- asset markets. The CMA therefore specifies and sup - plements the provisions of MiCA as well as Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA). The Crypto Market Act entered into force on 1 July 2024, accompanied by amendments to several related laws governing entities engaged in crypto-asset activ - ities. The provisions of the CMA became applicable from 30 December 2024 to persons whose activities fall within the scope of MiCA. The CMA places market participants under the super - vision of the Estonian Financial Supervision Author - ity ( Finantsinspektsioon – EFSA), which acts as the competent authority responsible for authorisation and ongoing supervision of crypto-asset market partici - pants. By its decision, the EFSA may approve: • authorisation to participate in crypto-asset markets as a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP); • the right of a credit institution, e-money institution, investment firm, UCITS management company, alternative fund manager, central securities deposi - tory or operator of a regulated securities market to operate as a CASP; • the right of a credit institution or other eligible undertaking to issue and seek admission to trading of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs); and
• the right of a credit institution or e-money institu - tion to issue and seek admission to trading of e-money tokens (EMTs). Where the EFSA authorises an entity that already holds another financial services licence to operate as a CASP or to issue ARTs or EMTs, the entity must comply with both the requirements established under the CMA and those applicable under the legal frame - work governing its existing authorisation. In cases where the applicable requirements differ, the entity must comply with the more detailed or more strin - gent provisions. In addition to the licensing requirements, CASPs are obligated entities within the meaning of theEstonian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act ( rahapesu ja terrorismi rahastamise tõkestamise seadus – the “AML Act”). Accordingly, the AML Act applies to their economic activities. The competent authority under the AML Act is the Estonian Finan - cial Intelligence Unit ( Rahapesu Andmebüroo – FIU). However, CASPs are not required to obtain a separate authorisation from the FIU under the AML Act, since they must already obtain authorisation from the EFSA under the CMA. Payment services Recently, in June 2025, the European Banking Author - ity (EBA) issued itsNo Action letter in response to the EU Commission’s written request of 6 December 2024 for the EBA, in close co-operation with ESMA, to clar - ify the interplay between Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) and Directive (EU) 2015/2366 on payment services in the internal market (PSD2), in relation to crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) that transact electronic money tokens (EMTs). It explains in detail that legal uncertainty must be removed following the entry into force of MiCA, while PSD2 simultaneously applies to operations with e-money tokens. The EBA proposes temporarily easing the requirements for CASP to avoid double licensing while preserving the fundamental principles of consumer protection and the EU’s technological neutrality.
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