MiCA in The Netherlands: rules, supervision and CASP licenses

Under MiCA, the AFM is the Dutch authority that authorises and supervises crypto-asset service providers, with EU rules applying since 30 December 2024 and national transitional arrangements ending no later than mid-2026.

Before MiCA, Dutch crypto firms registered with De Nederlandsche Bank under anti-money-laundering law — a regime that checked AML controls but did not regulate custody, capital or conduct. The move to AFM-supervised CASP authorisation is a genuine upgrade in what 'regulated' means for a Dutch customer.

Check the AFM's public registers (afm.nl) for CASP authorisations, or ESMA's union-wide register. As everywhere under MiCA, the authorisation is service-specific: custody, exchange, execution and portfolio management are separately listed.

Platforms authorised in another member state can passport into the Dutch market — verify the home-state entry in the ESMA register, and note which legal entity you are actually contracting with.

The practical gains are segregated custody (client assets held apart from the firm's own), clear pre-trade fee disclosure, capital requirements, and a formal complaints procedure with a supervisor behind it.

What did not change: market risk, and the absence of deposit-guarantee coverage for crypto holdings. MiCA regulates the provider, not the price.