Greece Curated

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Europe

Is crypto legal in Greece? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Greece. Current status: Legal — MiCA applies; no domestic CASP authorised yet. Oversight sits with Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC); Bank of Greece for EMT/ART prudential. Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) + Law 5193/2025, Chapter C (national implementation, April 2025) + Law 4557/2018 (AML, as amended — incl. the former Law 4734/2020 HCMC crypto-provider registry) + a crypto tax framework still pending in Parliament.

MiCA has applied directly in Greece since 30 December 2024, but the national machinery arrived only with Law 5193/2025 — a capital-markets statute passed by the Hellenic Parliament on 10 April 2025, whose Chapter C supplements MiCA. It designates the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) as the main supervisory authority for crypto-asset activities — authorising and supervising CASPs and enforcing MiCA's conduct, disclosure and market-abuse rules — with the Bank of Greece as prudential supervisor for e-money and asset-referenced token issuers already within its perimeter, and a coordination duty between the two.

Greece also cut its transition short. ESMA's December 2024 Article 143(3) list had recorded the 18-month EU maximum grandfathering period for Greece, but the implementing law confined grandfathering to firms registered under the prior AML regime (Law 4557/2018 as amended by Law 4734/2020) and only until the end of December 2025 — a 12-month window that closed about six months earlier than MiCA's default 1 July 2026 cut-off. Since the start of 2026, only MiCA-authorised or passported CASPs may lawfully serve the Greek market.

Authorisation practice, however, has yet to produce a licence. The HCMC's application procedure has been live since its Decision 8/1059 of 30 July 2025, but no CASP authorisation with Greece as home state had been granted as of our 13 July 2026 review — and the country's highest-profile applicant walked away. Binance applied to the HCMC in January 2026; on 16 June 2026 it said the regulator had completed its review and found the application compliant but had referred it for further ESMA-level scrutiny, and Reuters reported the HCMC was preparing to reject it, citing concerns over Binance's past legal issues and corporate structure raised jointly by the Greek, Irish and Latvian regulators. Binance withdrew the application on 24 June 2026 and halted services for EEA users — including Greek users of the world's largest exchange — around the 1 July 2026 MiCA compliance deadline.

MiCA implementation: HCMC and the Bank of Greece

Law 5193/2025 gives the HCMC authorisation, supervision and sanctioning powers over CASPs and crypto-asset offerors — including administrative fines, licence suspension and withdrawal, and public disclosure of violations — while the Bank of Greece supervises EMT/ART issuers that are credit or e-money institutions. The operative rulebook for applicants is HCMC Decision 8/1059/30.7.2025: a full dossier per Article 62 MiCA (plus the HCMC's standardised application form and questionnaires), submitted electronically and in hard copy, with acknowledgement within 5 working days, a completeness check within 25 working days, and a substantive decision within 40 working days of a complete file. The Binance episode showed the other side of the process: for systemically significant applicants, national review now comes with ESMA-level peer scrutiny, and a compliant-on-paper file is not the end of the story.

Tax treatment

Greece still has no crypto-specific tax statute in force — a long-standing gap that the government is now closing. Under current practice, gains recognised on crypto disposals are treated as capital gains at the applicable 15% rate, but Greek law contains no dedicated crypto provisions and courts have ruled inconsistently on how crypto income is classified, leaving taxpayers with real legal uncertainty. An earlier version of this profile stated flatly that "Greece applies 15% capital gains tax to crypto"; the accurate position is that 15% is applied by analogy, without a crypto statute behind it.

Pending framework: the Ministry of Finance's draft law — expected to be submitted to Parliament by the end of July 2026 — would introduce a 15% capital-gains tax on crypto profits with an annual tax-free threshold of €500, exclude crypto-to-crypto swaps from taxation (tax arising only on conversion to fiat, payment for goods/services, or other liquidation), and apply retroactively from 1 January 2025, giving earlier investors a formal path to declare past gains. These parameters are drawn from pre-submission reporting and remain pending verification against the final text once the bill is tabled and voted.

• Current: no crypto-specific statute; recognised gains taxed as capital gains at 15% by analogy
• Pending bill: 15% CGT, €500 annual exemption, crypto-to-crypto swaps out of scope, retroactive to 1 Jan 2025 (unverified until enacted)

Travel rule applicability

Status: yes — EU Transfer of Funds Regulation, no minimum threshold. Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 has applied since 30 December 2024 and is directly applicable in Greece: originator and beneficiary information must accompany every crypto-asset transfer with no de-minimis threshold, and CASPs are classified as financial institutions under the AML framework of Law 4557/2018, with enhanced due diligence for transfers involving self-hosted addresses. An earlier version of this profile cited a "USD/EUR 1,000 threshold" — under the EU regime there is none.

Notable enforcement and regulatory events

• 30 December 2024. MiCA's CASP titles and the recast Transfer of Funds Regulation begin applying directly in Greece.
• 10 April 2025. The Hellenic Parliament passes Law 5193/2025; Chapter C designates the HCMC as Greece's main crypto competent authority.
• 30 July 2025. HCMC Decision 8/1059/30.7.2025 establishes the CASP application procedure, forms and review timelines.
• End of December 2025. Greece's shortened transitional window closes: providers registered under the old AML regime without a MiCA authorisation must cease.
• January 2026. Binance files its MiCA CASP application with the HCMC — Athens becomes the exchange's chosen EU licensing venue.
• 16–24 June 2026. Binance says its application was found compliant but referred for ESMA-level review; Reuters reports the HCMC is preparing to reject it; Binance withdraws on 24 June 2026, vowing to seek authorisation elsewhere in the EU.
• 1 July 2026. MiCA's EU-wide transition ends; Binance halts services for EEA (including Greek) users, having no MiCA licence in any member state.

Public licensed CASP list

There is no Greek licensed-CASP list to publish yet: as of our 13 July 2026 review, the HCMC had not granted any CASP authorisation with Greece as home member state, and none appears in ESMA's consolidated register. The HCMC has accepted applications since 30 July 2025 (Decision 8/1059), and the highest-profile application — Binance's, filed January 2026 — was withdrawn on 24 June 2026. Firms registered under the legacy Law 4734/2020 AML registry lost their operating basis at the end of December 2025. Greek users are currently served by CASPs authorised in other EU member states and passported in — verify a provider's home-state entry in ESMA's MiCA register. DeFi Intel will mirror the official register when the first Greek authorisation lands.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Greece crypto regulation with three geographically adjacent jurisdictions:

Doing business in Greece — practical notes

The HCMC application route is procedurally clear (Decision 8/1059: Article 62 dossier, 25-working-day completeness check, 40-working-day decision) but unproven — no authorisation has yet been granted, and the Binance withdrawal shows that large or complex groups should expect ESMA-level scrutiny on top of national review. For most operators, passporting in from another EU home state is the working route to Greek clients today. Counterparty diligence should treat any "registered in Greece" claim with care: the old HCMC AML registry ceased to authorise anything at the end of 2025. On tax, the practical advice is to document acquisitions and disposals now — the pending framework is reported to apply retroactively from 1 January 2025, with a 15% rate, a €500 annual exemption and crypto-to-crypto swaps out of scope — but treat every parameter as provisional until the bill passes. Monitor the Ministry of Finance's submission (expected by end-July 2026) and HCMC announcements for the first Greek CASP authorisation.

Methodology and sources

This profile was researched and updated by DeFi Intel's research desk on 2026-07-14 from the primary and secondary sources listed below. Claims that could not be verified against a source are omitted or marked pending — we do not republish unverified third-party datasets. Submit corrections and primary-source links to research@defi-intel.com.

Sources

• Zepos & Yannopoulos — The long-awaited law supplementing MiCA has been adopted (Law 5193/2025, passed 10 April 2025)
• Global Legal Insights — Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Laws 2026: Greece (no crypto tax statute; 15% by analogy; grandfathering ended Dec 2025)
• HCMC — Decision 8/1059/30.07.2025: submitting an application for CASP authorisation (official, English)
• Logaras Law — HCMC establishes licensing procedure for CASPs (timelines under Decision 8/1059)
• Copla — MiCA regulation in Greece (12-month transitional period to 30 December 2025)
• ESMA — List of MiCA Article 143(3) grandfathering periods (December 2024; lists Greece at the 18-month EU maximum, later confined by Law 5193/2025 to the end of December 2025)
• CoinDesk — Binance withdraws Greek MiCA bid but vows to remain in Europe (24 June 2026)
• The Defiant — Binance withdraws Greece MiCA application, targets new EU jurisdiction (applied January 2026)
• Euronews — Binance to halt crypto services across EU countries after failing to secure MiCA approval (25 June 2026)
• Athens Times — New capital-gains tax framework nears final approval in Greece (20 June 2026: 15%, €500 threshold, retroactive to 1 Jan 2025)
• EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets