Sector
Cryptoassets.
Exchanges, custodians, brokers and stablecoin issuers. Authorisation in the United States, the European Union, Dubai, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, with the banking and financial crime framework the sector requires.
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Exchanges, custodians, brokers and stablecoin issuers. Authorisation in the United States, the European Union, Dubai, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, with the banking and financial crime framework the sector requires.
Selected engagements from more than 250 licences obtained since 2013, for payment, e-money and cryptoasset firms.
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We license exchanges, custodians, brokers and stablecoin issuers in the United States, the European Union, the Middle East, Asia and the United Kingdom, and open the banking alongside. Our record includes two end-to-end stablecoin projects, several European applications and three UK cryptoasset applications.
FinCEN registration, state money transmitter licences and the New York BitLicense.
MiCA crypto-asset service provider authorisation, passported across the EU.
VARA licences in Dubai and SFC licences for trading platforms in Hong Kong.
Issuer authorisation and the reserve, custody and redemption arrangements.
Accounts, fiat rails and cards for new and licensed cryptoasset firms, including new currencies and replacement banking.
A crypto business needs a licence in each market its customers are in: federal registration with state licences and the BitLicense for the United States, MiCA authorisation for the European Union, the VARA licence in Dubai, the SFC licence in Hong Kong, FCA authorisation for the United Kingdom, and the local licence or registration in Switzerland, Canada and Australia. The activity sets the class, since exchange, custody, brokerage and stablecoin issuance are each licensed on their own terms.
| Licence | Regulator | Capital | Our realistic timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| US money transmitter licence | States via NMLS | From US$100,000 | 6 to 8 months |
| FinCEN money services business registration | FinCEN | None | Effective on filing |
| New York BitLicense | NYDFS | See the guide | 12 to 18 months |
| MiCA crypto-asset service provider authorisation | Home-state authority | €50,000 to €150,000 | 3 to 5 months |
| Dubai VARA virtual asset licence | VARA | AED 100k to 1.5m | 6 to 9 months |
| Hong Kong virtual asset trading platform licence | SFC | HK$5,000,000 | 12 to 18 months |
| Switzerland crypto and VASP requirements | FINMA and SROs | See the guide | 6 to 8 months |
| UK cryptoasset authorisation under the new FCA regime | FCA | £75,000 to £750,000 | 6 to 9 months |
| Canada money services business registration | FINTRAC | None | 3 months |
| Australia AUSTRAC remittance and virtual asset service provider registration | AUSTRAC | None | 3 months |
We license you where your customers are, in the order that gets you trading soonest. For a global exchange, custodian or broker the core is the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, with Dubai, Hong Kong and Switzerland added for their markets.
Federal registration with FinCEN, state money transmitter licences, and the BitLicense for New York residents. New York runs twelve to eighteen months, so we file it first and build the other states alongside.
MiCA authorisation in one member state, used across the Union through the passport (one licence recognised in every member state). Three to five months from submission.
Dubai licenses each activity separately, so an exchange that also offers custody holds two licences. Hong Kong licenses centralised platforms with HK$5,000,000 of paid-up capital.
FCA cryptoasset authorisation runs six to nine months. The application window closes on 28 February 2027, ahead of the regime starting on 25 October 2027.
Switzerland has no single crypto licence: an exchange joins a recognised self-regulatory body, and pooled custody takes the FinTech licence. Canada and Australia are registrations of around three months each.
Issuers choose by the currency of the coin: a euro coin through an e-money institution in the EU, a dollar coin through a permitted US issuer. See stablecoin licensing.
Accounts in ordinary currency for new and established crypto firms, arranged through our direct relationships with banks, e-money institutions and payment providers in the United States, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom.
Fiat rails (the accounts and payment routes for ordinary currency) ready on the day of authorisation for new firms. For licensed firms, new currencies, new markets or a replacement for a bank that has withdrawn.
Client money accounts held apart from the firm’s own, settlement accounts in each currency, and operating accounts. Under MiCA, client funds reach a credit institution by the end of the next business day.
The financial crime framework: customer checks, transaction monitoring, wallet screening and the travel rule (sender and recipient details sent with every crypto transfer). We build it to the standard banks approve.
In the United States, reserves held one to one in cash, insured deposits, short-dated Treasury bills and government money market funds. In the EU, at least 30% of funds received in separate accounts at credit institutions.
Cards that spend a crypto balance as ordinary currency, and card payments that fund customer accounts. See banking and payment processing.
One framework, mapped to every regulator you answer to. Groups licensed in several markets retain our in-house team as their compliance function, so every return, policy and board report rests on the same base.
Under MiCA, the higher of the class minimum and a quarter of the previous year’s fixed overheads. In the UK, own funds from the first day, with no phase-in.
Dubai requires reserve assets equal to every client holding, reconciled daily and audited every six months. Hong Kong platforms file monthly business reports and an independent review within the first 18 months, then every year.
Blockchain analytics (tracing where crypto has come from), wallet screening, travel rule messaging and monitoring rules tuned to exchange, custody and issuance, run by an MLRO in post. See financial crime.
The reporting calendar runs on time, and when a regulator writes, we draft the response and brief your board before it is sent.
Bespoke white-label technology (systems built for your brand and product, ready to run) for accounts, payments, wallets and card programmes, matched to the controls your licence sets, for a new launch or to extend or replace a platform you already run.
A MiCA file covers ICT and security. New York requires a cyber security programme. In Hong Kong an external assessor reports on the platform twice, with the application and after approval in principle.
Fiat accounts and cards for customers, on the same platform as the exchange.
Issuance, redemption and reserve reporting in one system, so the monthly reserve reports regulators require come from the platform that issues the coin.
A programme under a licensed partner lets you issue cards and hold customer balances while your own licence is in progress, and becomes the track record in your application. See BaaS and programmes.
A licensed company brings its authorisation, its banking and its track record. Every regime we cover approves the new owner before completion, and MiCA assesses every shareholder holding 10% or more.
Under MiCA every transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, so a national registration alone no longer permits trading in the EU. In the UK, money laundering registration does not convert, so the target must have applied inside the window closing on 28 February 2027.
The New York list shows 39 holders of a BitLicense or trust charter, and Hong Kong lists 13 licensed platforms.
We price the permissions, banking, custody arrangements and supervisory record, and take the change of control (the regulator’s approval of the new owner) through to completion.
Our register of licensed companies for sale lists authorised cryptoasset firms, released in confidence to registered buyers. See acquisitions and change of control.
Yes, at two levels. Firms that transmit or exchange crypto for customers register with FinCEN as a money services business, and states license the same activity under their own money transmission and virtual currency laws. New York requires the BitLicense, or a limited purpose trust charter, for any business serving its residents, wherever the business is based.
MiCA authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider, granted by one EU member state and passported to the rest. An exchange that trades crypto for money or holds it for clients needs at least €125,000 of capital, and one that operates a trading platform €150,000. Every transitional period ended on 1 July 2026. We plan for three to five months after submission.
In Dubai, VARA licenses each virtual asset activity separately, so an exchange that also offers custody holds two licences, with capital of AED 100,000 to AED 1.5 million and six to nine months across both stages. In Hong Kong, the SFC licenses centralised trading platforms, with HK$5,000,000 of paid-up capital and twelve to eighteen months.
Usually yes, separate from the issuer’s licence. A firm that holds, transfers or exchanges stablecoins for customers needs money transmitter licences in the US, a crypto-asset service provider licence in the EU and cryptoasset authorisation in the UK. In the EU, an e-money institution can also issue its own e-money token after notifying its regulator.
With a financial crime framework the bank approves: customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, wallet screening and travel rule arrangements. We prepare that framework and arrange client money, settlement and operating accounts through our direct relationships with banks, e-money institutions and payment providers, for firms that are applying, so they trade from authorisation, and for licensed firms adding currencies or replacing a bank.
Yes. The regulator approves the new owner before completion, assessing the buyer’s fitness and ownership chain. The purchase brings the authorisation, banking and supervisory record with it. Confirm what the target holds in each market first: under MiCA every transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, so a national registration alone no longer permits trading in the EU.
The licence, the banking and the timing for your business.