MiCA in Germany: rules, supervision and CASP licenses

BaFin (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht) is Germany's national competent authority under MiCA. The EU rules for crypto-asset service providers apply since 30 December 2024, with national transitional arrangements for firms that held German licences before — ending, at the latest, in mid-2026.

Germany came into MiCA with more regulatory history than most member states: crypto custody had required a BaFin licence since 2020, which means German supervision of crypto firms predates the EU framework by half a decade.

In January 2020 Germany made crypto custody a regulated financial service under the Banking Act (KWG) — the Kryptoverwahrgeschäft licence. Firms safeguarding private keys for German customers needed BaFin authorisation long before MiCA existed. That national regime is now superseded by the EU-wide CASP authorisation, which covers custody plus nine other services under one harmonised rulebook.

For users, the practical effect is continuity with broader scope: the custody discipline Germany pioneered is now the EU baseline, and a single authorisation can passport across all member states.

Check BaFin's company database (Unternehmensdatenbank) for the firm's authorisation, or ESMA's EU register of CASPs. Pay attention to which services the authorisation covers and which legal entity actually holds it — large international platforms often serve EU customers through a single licensed subsidiary.

A platform authorised elsewhere in the EU/EEA may legally serve German customers via passporting; the home-state entry in the ESMA register is the thing to verify.