1. Unregulated free licenses ended in 2024
Until the end of 2024, cryptocurrency businesses could only be conducted on the basis of a free establishment license, and these unregulated business activities included both cryptocurrency exchange services and cryptocurrency wallet services.
As of 2025, it is necessary to obtain an NBS licence for all business activities in the field of cryptoassets. The NBS is the Slovak regulator of activities in cryptoassets. Possession of a license to conduct cryptoasset business is required by EU Regulation 2023/1114 MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets).
2. Minimum capital requirements – how much will it cost
In order to conduct business in cryptoassets, certain capital requirements must be met. Only legal persons can do business in cryptoassets. The capital requirements can be met by paying up and holding money in a bank account, and the funds must be part of the company’s equity.
The cryptoasset business is divided into three areas (tiers), with different minimum capital requirements for each tier:
| Service providers cryptoassets | Type of cryptoasset activity | Minimum capital requirements |
| Tier 1 | A cryptoasset service provider authorised to provide the following cryptoasset services: – executing orders on behalf of clients; – placement of cryptoassets; providing transfer services: – cryptoassets on behalf of clients; – receiving and transmitting orders relating to cryptoassets on behalf of clients; – providing cryptoasset advice; and/or – providing cryptoasset portfolio management. | 50.000 EUR |
| Tier 2 | A cryptoassets service provider licensed to provide all Tier 1 cryptoassets services and to: – provide custody and management of cryptoassets on behalf of clients; – exchange cryptoassets for funds; and/or – exchange cryptoassets for other cryptoassets. | 125.000 EUR |
| Tier 3 | A cryptoasset service provider licensed to provide all cryptoasset services falling under Tier 2 and to: – operate a cryptoasset trading platform. | 150.000 EUR |
The above amounts shall be increased to an amount equal to 25% of the licensee’s fixed costs for the past year, or projected for the following year (when the license application is first submitted), if that portion of the fixed costs is greater than the amounts shown in the table.
This money must not be touched by the company; it must always be available in liquid form, either in an account or in prime securities. It should only be used by the company in an emergency to cover clients’ claims. However, if the company spends these funds, it will lose its licence.
3. Preventing of money laundering
Every company doing business with cryptoassets must have a robust system for identifying clients and their transactions. At account opening and at regular intervals thereafter, the company must verify and identify each client. The company must also have a system for archiving and classifying all transactions it conducts with clients and their cryptoassets or money.
The MiCA regulation explicitly prohibits the use of cryptoassets where it is impossible to identify individual transactions and attribute them to specific wallets, such as with the cryptocurrency Monero.
The processes for the prevention of money laundering and for the identification of clients as well as for the archiving of individual transactions must be demonstrated and described in detail by the company to the licensing authority.
4. Risk management and business transparency
Another area in which the company must demonstrate its competence is in the area of risk management, in particular cash-flow management and the risks associated with the operation of computer systems and software. The company must have sufficient funds available at all times to pay all customer claims.
The company works with other people’s assets when providing cryptoassets services and must therefore ensure that these assets are adequately protected.
The basic rule that a company must follow is that it must manage and hold the assets of others separately from its own assets.
The Company shall also not use or misuse confidential information of which it becomes aware and which is not publicly available in the market.
At the same time, the company must have robust processes and policies in place to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and the commission of crime.
The firm must publish its fee policy in a timely and transparent manner and have a robust system for dealing with client complaints. It must provide clear, impartial and non-misleading information to clients, while at all times acting honestly and professionally and in the best interests of clients.
The Company shall not misuse confidential information which it has learned in the course of its business for its own benefit and enrichment.
5. Creating new tokens in the form of cryptoassets
The creation and trading of new cryptoassets is also subject to strict new regulation. This regulation applies not only to so-called ICOs (Initial Coin Offering), but to any public offering of tokens for a consideration. The regulation distinguishes between three types of so-called tokens, or crypto-assets, also known as cryptocurrencies in layman’s terms.
The most stringent regulation relates to e-money tokens, also called stable coins. These are tokens that are pegged at a fixed exchange rate to one official currency of a country. Such tokens can only be issued by a credit institution or an e-banking institution, i.e. a bank.
The second type of regulated tokens are tokens that are pegged to some other asset or to multiple assets, e.g. they may be pegged to the value of 1 ounce of gold, or to a basket of different currencies.
The third type of regulated tokens are tokens that are neither electronic money tokens nor linked to another asset. Such tokens include, for example, Bitcoin.
The issuance of new tokens requires the issuer to comply not only with the general obligations set out above, but also with two other essential conditions, which are (i) the publication and approval of a Whitepaper containing all relevant information about the new token, and (ii) the approval of the marketing plan for the issuance of the new token by the regulatory authority.
The Regulation details the basic information that both the White Paper and the Marketing Plan must contain and requires not only the necessary technical and marketing knowledge, but also a detailed knowledge of the law. The issuer may not deviate from the approved marketing plan, so it is necessary that it is drafted as broadly as possible, even if only part of it will be used in practice.
An issuer of a token based outside the EU does not need to comply with MiCA if it does not offer the token in the EU. However, if another trader would like to offer the token in the EU, it is that trader (not the token issuer) that needs to obtain a licence from a regulator within the EU under MiCA directive.
In the case of electronic money tokens or publicly traded tokens linked to assets, the issuer is obliged to redeem the tokens for money or for the asset to which the tokens are linked at the request of the holder.
Each issuer of electronic money tokens or asset-linked tokens must maintain at all times a reserve of assets covering liabilities to token holders and have at all times own funds at least equal to the highest of these amounts:
- 350 000 €,
- 2 % of the average amount of reserve assets,
- a 25% amount of the fixed costs for the previous year.
However, the above obligations do not apply to issuers of new tokens that meet at least one of the following conditions:
- crypto-assets are offered free of charge;
- Cryptoassets are automatically created as a reward for maintaining a distributed transaction database (blockchain) or validating transactions;
- the offer relates to a utility token providing access to a good or service that exists or is provided; or
- the holder of a cryptoasset has the right to use it only in exchange for goods and services in a limited network of merchants.
The Regulation also does not apply to the purchase of tokens offered and sold outside the EU, even if they are bought by a person established or resident in the EU. However, a person established outside the EU may not offer these tokens to the public in the EU.
6. The MiCA licence obtained in Slovakia is valid throughout the EU
It is advantageous to obtain a MiCA license in Slovakia because Slovakia has a transparent regulatory process, a favorable 19% corporate income tax, and an abundance of well-educated and quality workforce.
The new regulation unifies the regulation of the cryptocurrency market across the European Union, which is a significant advance on the previous legal status quo and removes the previous internal competition between EU countries for the most generous regulation. The regulation also provides strong protection for holders of cryptoassets subject to regulation. Clearly, the Regulation can be assessed as an important and significant step forward in the field of cryptoassets trading.