1. Introduction
Since 30 December 2024, the EU’s Regulation 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (“MiCAR”) has been fully applicable.
On 4 December 2025, the Belgian Parliament adopted, in plenary session, a law implementing MiCAR (the “Implementing Law”), which designates the national competent authorities responsible for the licensing, supervision, and enforcement of crypto-asset entities. The law, dated 11 December 2025, has now been published in the Belgian Official Journal and will enter into force ten days after its publication.
Under the former local Belgian regime, which will be fully replaced by MiCAR in 2026, the FSMA has been acting as the sole competent authority for virtual asset service providers (“VASPs”). Such regime was primarily AML-driven and limited in scope, applying only to exchange services between fiat and virtual currencies and to custodian wallet providers.
The MiCAR Implementing Law will replace the former framework with a more complex supervisory structure, allocating competences among the Financial Services and Markets Authority (the “FSMA”), the National Bank of Belgium (the “NBB”), and the Federal Public Service (“FPS”) Economy.
2. Licensing and Supervision of Issuers of crypto-assets
The Implementing Law provides that, with regard to public offerings and admissions to trading, supervision will differ depending on the type of crypto-asset issued: (i) crypto-assets other than stablecoins, (ii) asset-referenced tokens (“ARTs”) and (iii) e-money tokens (“EMTs”).
a. Crypto-assets other than stablecoins
For issuers of crypto-assets other than stablecoins, the FSMA will act as the sole competent authority.
Its remit will cover the review of white papers, oversight of public offers and marketing, and enforcement of investor protection rules such as withdrawal rights and safeguards for holders.
Under MiCA, provided the white paper is published and marketing rules are observed, no license is required for these issuers. Their activities are, however, subject to notification and oversight by the competent authority in Belgium, the FSMA.
b. Asset-referenced tokens
Issuers of ARTs will fall under a dual regime:
- the NBB will be responsible for prudential supervision, including the granting of authorisations, oversight of capital and reserve requirements, and review of recovery and redemption plans;
- the FSMA will retain responsibility for conduct of business rules supervision, covering areas such as marketing, white paper publication, complaints handling, and conflicts of interest.
c. E-money tokens
Issuers of EMTs will be subject to a similarly divided regime:
- the NBB will handle prudential supervision, including authorisation, capital and reserve requirements, and redemption arrangements;
- the FPS Economy will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules on token redeemability and the prohibition of granting interest to holders.
3. Licensing and Supervision of Crypto-Asset Service Providers
The Implementing Law also addresses the supervision of crypto-asset service providers (“CASPs”), which will fully replace the former Belgian VASP status.
For CASPs, prudential supervision will be divided as follows:
- The NBB will oversee CASPs which are already regulated under other sectoral legislation, such as credit institutions, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, central securities depositories, and stockbroking firms;
- The FSMA will supervise a different series of CASPs, including entities already under its remit (e.g. investment firms without stockbroking status, UCITS and AIF managers, market operators), as well as new entrants seeking a license under Article 59 of MiCAR.
Conduct-of-business supervision, however, will be centralised. The FSMA is expected to become the sole competent authority for enforcing MiCAR’s conduct obligations for all CASPs, including those falling under the NBB’s prudential oversight. This will cover duties of fair conduct, custody agreements, and service-specific requirements depending on the type of crypto-asset service.
4. Conclusion
The Implementing Law has fully entered into force on 3 January 2026, and Belgium is now able to start processing licence applications for ART and EMT issuers, as well as for CASPs.
