CASP stands for Crypto-Asset Service Provider. It is the legal category created by the EU’s MiCA regulation to describe any company that provides crypto-related services to clients on a professional basis within the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before MiCA, crypto businesses in Europe operated under a patchwork of national rules. A company registered in one country often had no automatic right to serve customers in another. CASP authorization changes that. A business that receives a CASP licence from a regulator in any EU member state can passport that authorization across all 27 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term itself matters because it creates a defined legal identity for crypto businesses in the same way that terms like “credit institution” or “investment firm” define traditional finance companies. Regulators, courts, and users all operate with the same shared understanding of what a CASP is and what it must do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For anyone looking to buy crypto<\/a> in Europe, CASP authorization is among the clearest indicators that a platform operates within the EU’s regulatory framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MiCA defines a specific list of services that fall under the CASP category. A business qualifies as a CASP if it provides any of the following on a professional basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most retail exchanges, including those where users buy Bitcoin<\/a> or buy Ethereum<\/a>, fall under at least the exchange and custody categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MiCA sets out its definition of a CASP in Article 3, establishing that the term applies to any legal person or undertaking whose occupation or business is the professional provision of one or more crypto-asset services to clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three elements of that definition are worth unpacking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n MiCA also distinguishes CASPs from issuers of crypto-assets. A company launching a new token operates under a different set of MiCA rules covering white papers and disclosure obligations. CASP rules specifically govern the service layer, meaning the businesses that help users access, trade, and store existing crypto-assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Receiving a CASP licence is not the end of the process. It comes with a sustained set of operational requirements that define how the business must run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These obligations make the CASP framework one of the most comprehensive crypto regulatory regimes in the world. Understanding how cryptocurrency works<\/a> at a technical level and how platforms are regulated at an institutional level are two sides of the same picture for informed users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) is the equivalent term used by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global standard-setter for anti-money laundering rules. Many countries adopted the VASP terminology before MiCA existed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The differences between the two frameworks reflect their different origins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n VASP is a FATF concept focused primarily on AML and counter-terrorism financing controls. Countries that adopted it, including the UK and many non-EU jurisdictions, used it as the basis for registration requirements. The emphasis is on monitoring and reporting suspicious activity. It says relatively little about how platforms must treat clients commercially or how they must structure their operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CASP is a MiCA concept that goes significantly further. It covers AML compliance but adds requirements on capital, client asset safeguarding, governance, conduct of business, and market integrity. Where VASP registration is primarily about financial crime risk, CASP authorization is about comprehensive financial services regulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In practical terms, a business registered as a VASP in a non-EU country meets a lower bar than a CASP-authorized business. Both frameworks exist because different regulators built different systems, but MiCA’s CASP framework currently represents the most detailed crypto regulatory standard applied at scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any business providing crypto-asset services professionally to clients in the EU needs CASP authorization, regardless of where it is based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The location of the company matters less than the location of the clients. A platform headquartered outside the EU that actively markets to or serves EU residents is subject to MiCA and must obtain CASP authorization to do so legally. This extraterritorial reach is similar to how GDPR applies to non-EU businesses that process EU resident data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Businesses that were already registered under pre-MiCA national regimes in EU member states had a transition period to convert their existing authorization to full CASP status. Many national frameworks, such as Germany’s BaFin crypto custody licence or France’s PSAN registration, ran in parallel with MiCA during this period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The list of businesses that need CASP authorization is broad. Retail exchanges, OTC desks, crypto payment processors, custody providers, and portfolio managers all fall within scope. Decentralized platforms are more complex. MiCA includes carve-outs for fully decentralized services with no identifiable service provider, but most platforms that present a user interface and earn fees from clients are treated as CASPs regardless of their technical architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Users can buy Bitcoin<\/a> and buy Ethereum<\/a> through CASP-authorized platforms knowing the platform has passed the EU’s authorization process and operates under its ongoing supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paybis holds the MiCA CASP licence issued in Latvia, placing it among the crypto platforms fully authorized under the EU’s unified regulatory framework. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat Services Does a CASP Provide?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How Does MiCA Define a CASP?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What Are the Obligations of a Licensed CASP?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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How Is a CASP Different from a VASP?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Which Businesses Need CASP Authorization?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Does Paybis Hold a CASP Licence?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n