How to Obtain a Crypto License: Regulations, Requirements & Applications

| Updated on April 5, 2024

With a rising global dominance of digital infrastructure, cryptocurrency is making its presence in almost every economic sector. Streamlining financial transactions like never before, digital currency is becoming a new normal. If you also aspire to make your business finances modern and smoother, obtaining a crypto license is the way to go.

But, what steps do you have to take for obtaining a licence? Or, is your business even eligible to get one? Refer to the article till the end to find answers to your queries.

What is a Crypto License?

Let us start by addressing the elephant in the room. A crypto license is typically a legal document that makes your business eligible to integrate cryptocurrencies into its operations. Be it for safe and secure payments, obtaining capital for the enterprise, or any other reason, digital currency can be leveraged in these scenarios. 

Wondering who issues these licenses?

Well, they are issued by regulatory agencies of a country to oversee the operations with respect to jurisdictional permissions. The map given below, highlights the country in different colors, depending on their legalities for digital currency.

Legal Status of Bitcoin

This map showcases the legal status of digital currencies such as Bitcoin in different regions of the world. 

   Legal tender

   Permissive 

   Restricted 

   Contentious 

   Prohibited 

   No data 

What are the Eligibility Criteria for License Application?

Below are some bullet points at which you must take a look to know about the eligibility criteria:

  • Clean Business Record: First and foremost, your business must be clean and responsible towards its responsibility. Authorities that deal in licenses run a detail inspection of your company’s history and its operations. 
  • Professional Experience: As a founder, you must have knowledge of how things work in the financial sector. Besides this, your understanding of cryptocurrencies and blockchain is also prioritized.
  • Transparency of Investors: Any kind of suspicious element can cause big damage to your explanation. To stay away from such incidents, provide clear information and details about the income sources or investors of your business. 

If you stand strong on these eligibility criteria, you are good to go with your application. 

How to Obtain a Crypto License?

As stated earlier, each country bears different rules for cryptocurrencies. As a result, they all have different rules and permissions that can be levied on businesses. Ultimately, there is a different set of procedures to apply for licenses. 

However, below are some steps that are usually common within every political border where crypto is legal (or partially legal): 

Learn About the Regulatory Framework

Getting introduced to your country’s rules and regulations is the first step that you must take. To run a brief analysis, you must focus on gaining the knowledge of what degree of freedom do businesses have to use digital currencies in their operations. 

Move Forward With Your Application

Once you get yourself enlightened with your research, it’s high time to move forward with submitting your application. During the application process, you have to provide detailed information about your company. 

Please keep in mind that you have to be clear and confident with the details provided since any suspicious element in your application can hamper your progress. If these details are to be presented boldly, the authorities will expect you to provide:

  • Ownership structure
  • Business plan
  • Financial situation
  • Anti-money-laundering
  • KYC policies and processes

Compliance and Due Diligence

If fortunately, your application gets accepted, your company has to agree to the compliance made by the authority. Moreover, detailed due diligence is carried forward at this stage to further strengthen the ongoing compliance with applicable rules and regulations.

The main components that are studied at this stage are: 

  • Periodic reporting
  • Audits
  • Inspections

These are the three steps that are common in almost every country where using crypto is permitted for companies. Luckily, the same set of steps can be applied when you are applying for a license for crypto exchange.

Services that a Crypto-Licensed Company has to Provide

If your company is approved for a license, you have to adhere by their compliance and provide certain services:

  • Crypto Exchange Platform: Providing an exchange platform is a must. This service allows exchanging digital currencies for fiat money, or vice versa. Moreover, crypto-to-crypto exchanges are also possible. 
  • Payment Services: Once your firm is approved with a license, it must start providing cryptocurrency as an option to make or receive payments.
  • Blockchain Asset Management: Blockchain asset management is responsible for providing portfolio management services, which comprises both advisory and strategic planning.

Are There Any Challenges to Face During Application Process?

If the question is to be answered in a single word, then yes. Challenges always come in the way at every point in time. Likewise, below are some difficulties that you might encounter during your application process: 

  • Highly Expensive: During the whole procedure, your firm will incur numerous checkpoints where it has to spend a hefty amount. Since crypto provides much convenience and ease to business processes, their license comes with a justified value of expenses. 
  • Limited Availability: There is a defined number of licenses that are to be provided to companies. Applying for a license alone does not assure you with its approval. You have to prove that your business is a great match for the license. 
  • Strict Requirements: Standing strong on their requirements might be a mess. Moreover, being extra cautious, authorities demand Anti-money-laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, and numerous other necessary details.

These were some challenges and insights about obtaining a crypto license for your company. Investing in digital currency for business operations is undoubtedly a head start to your business modernization. 

So, this is how you can obtain a license and start your cryptocurrency trading journey. We hope this blog will be helpful to you. Share it with your friends and family to make them aware.





Priyam Ghosh

Tech and Internet Writer


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