MiCA in Spain

The CNMV is the authority for compliance with MiCA in Spain, and it handles applications under Article 63 as well as notifications under Article 60. Title II of MiCA, which covers the white papers for crypto-assets other than tokens, also sits with the CNMV. The Banco de España supervises, inspects and sanctions issuers of e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens under Titles III and IV.

Since May 2021 the Banco de España had kept a register of firms that exchanged virtual currency for fiat money or held electronic wallets in custody. Firms in that register on 30 December 2024 could continue the same services without authorization until 1 July 2026. The register closed to new entries on 30 December 2024 and remains in place for information only.

Belgium, Portugal and Romania also kept the full eighteen months of the MiCA transitional period.

The ESMA interim register of 18 October 2026 lists 16 crypto-asset service providers with Spain as home member state. Ten of them hold an Article 63 authorization, and six banks provide crypto services after an Article 60 notification. BBVA notified the CNMV on 5 March 2025 for custody, order execution and transfers, and CaixaBank, Openbank, Cecabank, Renta 4 Banco and Kutxabank followed.

Bit2Me received the first Spanish authorization under Article 63 on 31 October 2025, for seven services that it may passport into 30 countries. Criptan, Prosegur Crypto and Crossmint Europe are among the firms authorized since June 2026.

Finance Loop connects compliance and digital asset teams in Germany with banks and crypto firms that apply MiCA in other member states, Spain included. At the Bybit EU Crypto Evening in Frankfurt, Mykolas Majauskas, Senior Director of Policy, spoke about compliance under MiCAR. Finance Loop also lists the MiCAR certificate program that EBS Executive School runs with the law firm HEUKING.

The CNMV keeps its own register of authorized crypto-asset service providers, and the ESMA register lists the providers from other member states that serve Spanish clients. The CNMV advises investors to check both registers and its warning list of unauthorized firms, called Chiringuitos Financieros, before they invest.

The CNMV published a manual for applications by crypto-asset service providers and a notification template for banks and other financial firms. An applicant has to show its governance, own funds, custody arrangements and controls against money laundering, as for a CASP license in any member state.

The Spanish transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, after the full eighteen months that MiCA allows. A firm that relied on the transitional period of another member state could not serve Spanish clients unless it also qualified under the Spanish period.

The CNMV has answered common questions about MiCA, for example who could use the transitional period in Spain. Firms that offered portfolio management or advice, and therefore could not register with the Banco de España, could continue those services if they had provided them before.

MiCA applies directly in Spain, and Spanish law assigns the supervisory tasks between the CNMV and the Banco de España. MiCA protection applies only to the authorized EU legal entity, so the CNMV asks clients to check which company is named in their contract.