CZECH REPUBLIC Law and Practice Contributed by: Ondřej Mikula, Jan Šovar and Markéta Klabouchová, FINREG PARTNERS
stake (PoS) blockchain network and transaction validation/block creation. According to the CNB, the collection of crypto- assets for the purpose of on-chain staking will benefit from the exemption from the AMCIF for the collection of monetary valuables which have the provision of own non-financial services as their main purpose, provided that the on-chain staking is carried out by the entity collecting the crypto-assets. The AMCIF will therefore not apply. Other Regulation Although staking itself falls outside the scope of MiCA, staking-related services (eg, custody of crypto-assets used for staking or the private keys giving access to them by the staking pro - vider) may be subject to MiCA, if the definition of any of them is met. In this case, authorisation as a CASP is required. In addition, where crypto-assets are being col - lected for purposes other than on-chain stak - ing, even if the collection is described as stak - ing, it will be necessary to examine whether the conditions for the AMCIF application are met. In addition, staking could be subject to banking regulation if the person carrying out the staking finances its activities by accepting funds (ie, not crypto-assets, except for e-money tokens) with an obligation to return them to the depositor. Finally, local consumer protection laws may apply if the services are provided to consumers. 10.7 Crypto-Related Lending As with staking, lending is not subject to MiCA. However, AML/CFT legislation will apply. There - fore, lending providers are obliged to obtain the relevant authorisation for their activities (cur - rently only based on a notification to the Trade
Office, soon to be based on the FAO authorisa - tion procedure) and to comply with the relevant AML/CFT legislation. In addition, local consumer protection laws may apply, if consumers are tar - geted. 10.8 Cryptocurrency Derivatives Offering crypto-asset derivatives that qualify as “financial instruments” under MiFID II to custom - ers is subject to MiFID II/MiFIR and the related framework, including MAD/MAR. In addition, public offerings of crypto-asset derivatives may be subject to the Prospectus Regulation, if the derivative product constitutes a transferable security within the meaning of MiFID II, or MiCA, if it constitutes a crypto-asset subject. 10.9 Decentralised Finance (DeFi) The law in the Czech Republic neither defines nor specifically regulates DeFi. However, depending on factors such as the type and structuring of activities undertaken, including the associated degree of automation and decentralisation, and the type of crypto-assets used, different regula - tory frameworks may apply to DeFi (eg, MiCA, AML/CFT legislation, investment services legis - lation such as the CMBA or the AMCIF, or con - sumer protection legislation). A case-by-case basis analysis must be carried out. Although MiCA expressly excludes crypto- assets services provided in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary from its scope, this is not the case for other financial services. In addition, both conditions, ie, full decentralisa - tion and non-intermediation, must be met to be excluded from the scope of MiCA. The mere fact that the services are provided in a disinterme - diated manner is therefore unlikely to have any impact on the application of the relevant regula - tory regime.
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