CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Ondřej Mikula, Jan Šovar and Markéta Klabouchová, FINREG PARTNERS
10.5 Regulation of Blockchain Asset Trading Platforms As described in 10.3 Classification of Block - chain Assets , the regulation of blockchain asset trading platforms, as well as the secondary mar - ket trading of blockchain assets, depends on the legal classification of the traded blockchain assets. In the case of crypto-assets that fall within the scope of MiCA, trading platforms and inter - mediaries providing services related to these crypto-assets are subject to authorisation requirements under MiCA. The requirements for obtaining authorisation are quite similar to those for investment firms, including requirements for the good repute and expertise of the applicant’s management, prudential safeguards, risk man - agement measures, including money laundering and terrorist financing risks, and adequate ICT systems in compliance with DORA. Only legal entities with their registered office in the EU can be granted a MiCA licence. The licensing obliga - tion does not apply to fully decentralised peer- to-peer crypto-assets trading platforms as they are outside the scope of MiCA. If blockchain assets qualify as “financial instru - ments” , the platform trading these assets must instead obtain an authorisation to operate either as a regulated market, a MTF or an OTF. Provi - sion of investment services related to “financial instruments” such as reception and transmission of orders or execution of orders in relation to “financial instruments” is also subject to a licens - ing obligation. Under the DLT Pilot, MTFs may apply for an authorisation to operate a DLT MTF and obtain temporary exemptions from certain existing requirements of EU financial services legisla - tion to test innovative solutions based on DLT
on capital markets. The DLT Pilot is only open to certain blockchain assets that qualify as “finan - cial instruments” (in essence, only assets with low market value/capitalisation/issue size). In addition, where the operation of the block - chain asset trading platform involves activities such as accepting fiat currency from buyers or transmitting fiat currency to sellers, an authorisa - tion under the PSA for the provision of payment services may be required. 10.6 Staking The provision of staking services related to cryp - to-assets is not regulated under MiCA. However, other regulations may apply, particularly AML/ CFT legislation. AML/CFT Legislation As mentioned in 10.2 Local Regulators’ Approach to Blockchain , providers of crypto- asset-related services that are not covered by MiCA will soon be subject to an authorisation procedure before the FAO. Until then, the pro - vision of these services is only subject to the notification procedure before the Trade Office. In addition, they are required to comply with other applicable obligations under the AML/CFT legis - lation such as customer due diligence or suspi - cious transaction reporting. The AMCIF For these purposes, the CNB has issued an opinion on the regulation of staking, clarifying the conditions under which crypto-assets may be collected from other persons for the purpose of staking them without the activity being sub - ject to collective investment regulation under the AMCIF. By staking, the opinion means only so-called traditional or on-chain staking, where a holder locks or lends its crypto-assets to be used for the purposes of securing the proof-of-
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