Meet Dr. Marcus Hartmann
Dr. Marcus Hartmann has spent over two decades at the intersection of financial law and emerging technology. Based in Zug — Switzerland's Crypto Valley — he has guided startups, trading platforms, and institutional investors through the full spectrum of VASP licensing: from FINMA FinTech notifications to MiCA CASP applications and offshore structuring across 60+ jurisdictions.
He joined CryptoLicenses.net as Senior Licensing Advisor after a decade leading the fintech practice of a Swiss-regulated law firm, where he managed regulatory mandates in the UAE, Singapore, Liechtenstein, and the Cayman Islands.
- MiCA's authorisation rules for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) apply from 30 December 2024
- Firms that legally provided crypto services under national law before that date may keep operating during a transitional ("grandfathering") period under Article 143(3)
- The transitional window runs until 1 July 2026 at the latest — or until a CASP authorisation is granted or refused, whichever comes first
- Each EU member state could shorten this period, or decline to apply it — so the real deadline differs by country
- A simplified, fast-track authorisation route (Article 143(6)) is available to firms already licensed under national law
- New entrants that were not operating before 30 December 2024 cannot use grandfathering — they need full CASP authorisation before they start
What Is MiCA Grandfathering?
MiCA grandfathering is the transitional period that lets existing EU crypto firms keep trading while they apply for full authorisation under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. If your company legally provided crypto-asset services under a national regime before 30 December 2024, Article 143(3) of MiCA allows you to continue — but only until 1 July 2026 at the latest, or until your CASP application is decided, whichever happens first.
MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) became the single rulebook for crypto across all 27 EU member states. The authorisation requirements for service providers — exchanges, custodians, brokers, and portfolio managers — took effect on 30 December 2024. Without a transitional measure, every firm already operating would have had to stop overnight. Grandfathering bridges that gap.
The catch is that the transitional period is not uniform. The 18-month maximum is set by MiCA, but each member state was given discretion to reduce it — or skip it entirely — where its previous national framework was lighter than MiCA. The result is a patchwork of national deadlines that every operator must check against its own country of registration.
Who Qualifies for the Transitional Period
Grandfathering is only available to firms that were already operating lawfully before the cut-off date. To rely on Article 143(3), a firm must have provided crypto-asset services in accordance with applicable national law before 30 December 2024. In practice that means holding the relevant national registration or licence — for example a French PSAN registration with the AMF, a crypto-custody licence under Germany's KWG supervised by BaFin, or an equivalent registration in Lithuania, Poland, or the Czech Republic.
What does not qualify
A company incorporated or starting services after 30 December 2024 cannot use the transitional regime. New entrants must obtain a full CASP authorisation under Article 63 before providing any service. The same applies to firms that were operating informally without the national registration their member state required — operating without the licence you were supposed to hold does not count as "in accordance with applicable law".
Check first: grandfathering protects an existing, properly registered business. If you were relying on a light-touch registration in one member state to passport activity across the EU, confirm that the registration actually authorised the services you provided — regulators are reviewing this closely during the transition.
The 1 July 2026 Deadline
The transitional period set by MiCA runs for a maximum of 18 months from 30 December 2024 — ending on 1 July 2026. During this window a grandfathered firm may continue providing the crypto-asset services it was already offering. The protection ends earlier if the firm's CASP application is granted (it then operates under MiCA) or refused (it must stop).
After the deadline, a firm without CASP authorisation must cease providing services to EU clients. There is no automatic extension. Because authorisation review can itself take up to three to six months, firms that wait until early 2026 to apply risk running out of runway before a decision is reached.
Do not wait for the deadline: a CASP application can take several months to prepare and several more to review. To remain operational past 1 July 2026, most firms need to submit a complete application well before the end of 2025.
How Member States Differ
Article 143(3) lets each member state shorten the transitional period, or decide not to apply it, where its pre-MiCA national framework was less strict than MiCA. This is the single most important point for any operator: the 1 July 2026 date is a ceiling, not a guarantee.
Most member states adopted close to the full 18-month window, but several set earlier cut-offs. The Netherlands signalled a shorter runway for existing firms, while jurisdictions popular with registered VASPs — such as Lithuania, Poland, and the Czech Republic — generally allowed the longer period. Some states also revised their position during 2025. Always confirm the exact end date with the national competent authority (NCA) where your firm is registered, because relying on the EU-wide maximum can leave you operating unlawfully in a country that closed its window earlier.
| Element | What MiCA sets | What varies by country |
|---|---|---|
| Start of CASP rules | 30 December 2024 (EU-wide) | Fixed — no variation |
| Maximum transitional period | Until 1 July 2026 | States may shorten or skip it |
| Simplified authorisation | Optional under Art. 143(6) | Only if the state opted in |
| Qualifying national licence | Must predate 30 Dec 2024 | Each state's own regime |
"The mistake we see most often is treating 1 July 2026 as a universal deadline. It is the EU ceiling — but if your firm is registered in a member state that shortened the window, your real cut-off may be months earlier. The first question in any transition plan is not 'what does MiCA say', it is 'what did my national regulator decide'."
— Dr. Marcus Hartmann, Senior Licensing Advisor
The Simplified Authorisation Route
To ease the transition, Article 143(6) lets member states offer a simplified authorisation procedure to firms that were already authorised under national law to provide crypto-asset services. Where a state has opted in, an existing registered firm can reuse much of the documentation already submitted to its national regulator, rather than building an application from scratch.
The simplified route still requires the firm to demonstrate that it meets MiCA's substantive standards — governance, prudential safeguards, custody and segregation of client assets, complaints handling, and AML/CTF controls. It removes duplication, not the underlying requirements. Whether the route is available, and exactly how much it shortens the process, depends on the member state.
Your Transition Checklist
Contact the NCA where your firm is registered and confirm the exact end of the transitional period that applies to you. Do not assume 1 July 2026 — verify it in writing.
Verify that your firm provided the relevant services lawfully, under the correct national registration, before 30 December 2024. Map each service you offer to a MiCA CASP service category.
Compare your current governance, capital, custody, and AML arrangements against MiCA's CASP requirements. Identify what must change before authorisation.
Decide whether the simplified procedure is available to you and submit a complete CASP application with enough lead time for a decision before your deadline — ideally before the end of 2025.