Monaco

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Europe

Is crypto legal in Monaco? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Monaco. Current status: Legal — CCAF licensing regime (Law 1.528). Oversight sits with CCAF · AMSF (AML/CFT). Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: Monaco's primary statute is Law No. 1.528 of 7 July 2022 (published in the Journal de Monaco on 22 July 2022), a 45-article act amending the Principality's digital provisions and regulating the activities of service providers on digital assets or crypto-assets. It builds on Law No. 1.491 of 23 June 2020 on token offerings ("offres de jetons") and Law No. 1.383 on the digital economy. Monaco is a sovereign city-state and is not an EU or EEA member, so the EU's MiCA regime does not apply directly; the Principality legislates its own regime.

Law 1.528 creates a prior-licensing ("agrément") regime for digital-asset and crypto-asset service providers, reserved in all cases to companies registered in Monaco. Approvals are issued either by the Minister of State or by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières (CCAF), Monaco's financial-sector supervisor, depending on the service — custody, operation of a trading platform and currency-transfer services require the Minister of State's approval. Regulated activities include exchanging virtual assets against other virtual assets and operating a negotiation (trading) platform. The law defines a broad set of instruments — financial/security tokens, virtual financial assets, utility (usage) tokens, NFTs and metaverse/avatar assets — and removed the previous €10,000 minimum nominal token value. Companies established abroad are prohibited from making unsolicited advertising approaches to Monegasque residents for these services. The earlier Law 1.491 (voted 16 June 2020, part of the "Extended Monaco" programme) established the framework for security token offerings, authorised by the Minister of State after a reasoned opinion from a review commission.

Tax treatment

Monaco levies no personal income tax on its residents (a regime dating to 1869), so an individual resident holding cryptocurrency as a personal investment pays no capital-gains tax on disposals to fiat, and there is no wealth tax and no distinction between short- and long-term gains. The significant exception is French nationals: under the 1963 France–Monaco bilateral tax convention, French citizens resident in Monaco remain subject to French tax and pay France's flat 30% rate on crypto gains. Corporate crypto businesses are potentially within the scope of Monaco's corporate profits tax (Impôt sur les Bénéfices, ISB), levied at 25% (reduced from 33.33%) on companies deriving more than 25% of turnover from outside Monaco, with a graduated relief for newly formed companies (0% for the first two years, then 6.25%, 12.5% and 18.75% before the full rate in year six). Monaco's standard VAT rate is 20%, applied in line with France.

• Capital-gains rate (individual residents): 0% — Monaco has no personal income tax (French nationals excepted: French 30% flat tax applies)
• Corporate profits tax (ISB): 25% where >25% of turnover is earned outside Monaco
• Wealth tax: None

Travel rule applicability

Status: AML/CFT-supervised VASP perimeter. Digital-asset and crypto-asset service providers are subject entities under Law No. 1.362 on the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption (as amended), which imposes KYC and suspicious-transaction reporting. AML/CFT supervision sits with the Autorité Monégasque de Sécurité Financière (AMSF) — Monaco's financial intelligence unit and independent AML authority, which replaced SICCFIN under Law No. 1.549 of 6 July 2023. In Moneyval's 2024 follow-up assessment, FATF Recommendation 15 (virtual assets and VASPs, which carries the travel-rule obligation) remained the sole recommendation rated only partially compliant, indicating the transfer-information regime was still being strengthened. The specific transaction threshold for travel-rule data is pending verification against the implementing Sovereign Ordinances.

Notable enforcement actions and warnings

• June 2024 — FATF grey list. The FATF placed Monaco under increased monitoring ("grey list") for strategic AML/CFT deficiencies. The Prince's Government committed to an agreed timetable to exit, with intermediate milestones in May and September 2025 targeting removal around early 2026; Moneyval's follow-up re-rated several recommendations upward while flagging virtual-asset controls as still developing.
• 2023 — supervisory reform. Law No. 1.549 (6 July 2023) transformed SICCFIN into the AMSF, an independent administrative authority with financial-intelligence, coordination and administrative-sanction powers, part of Monaco's response to Moneyval findings.
• Investor warnings (CCAF / AMAF). The CCAF cautions that crypto-assets (e.g. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Monoeci) carry no specific legal-tender status and warn of total loss, illiquidity, volatility and fraud/money-laundering risk. The AMAF publishes a public list of unauthorised firms not licensed by the CCAF (e.g. "Monaco Investment Corporation", "GB Finanx", "Barclays Traders"). No formal crypto-specific fines were located this session — pending verification.

Public licensed CASP list

There is no automated general crypto licence in Monaco: each operator must obtain individual authorisation from the CCAF (or the Minister of State), which assesses the entity's legal, financial and technical suitability. A consolidated public register of licensed digital-asset/crypto-asset service providers was not located during this session — status is pending verification. For live authorisation status, consult the CCAF and the AMSF directly; the AMAF also publishes cautionary notices on unauthorised entities.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Monaco crypto regulation with its land neighbour, its nearest Riviera neighbour, and a comparable non-EU European microstate:

Doing business in Monaco — practical notes

Operating a digital-asset or crypto-asset business in or into Monaco in 2026 requires a Monaco-registered company and prior CCAF/Minister-of-State authorisation under Law 1.528, together with fit-and-proper management, secured IT systems, and an AML/CFT programme supervised by the AMSF under Law 1.362. Foreign-established firms may not make unsolicited approaches to Monegasque residents. Firms should also factor in Monaco's FATF grey-list status (since June 2024), which has raised counterparty due-diligence and correspondent-banking scrutiny across the Principality's financial sector while the government works through its agreed remediation plan. Verify current CCAF requirements and implementing Sovereign Ordinances before structuring.

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, including Monaco government portals, the AMSF, the FATF/Moneyval, the CCAF/AMAF and Monaco legal practitioners. Claims that could not be verified against a source are omitted or marked pending verification — we do not republish unverified third-party datasets. Submit corrections and primary-source links to research@defi-intel.com.

Sources

• Government of Monaco — Act No. 1.491 of 23 June 2020 on security token offerings
• 99 Avocats — Law No. 1.528 of 7 July 2022 on digital-asset / crypto-asset service providers
• Delforge Law — Monaco regulatory regime for crypto-asset service providers (Law 1.528)
• Autorité Monégasque de Sécurité Financière (AMSF) — Monaco AML/CFT authority and FIU
• AMAF — CCAF crypto-asset caution and list of unauthorised firms
• Government of Monaco — Monaco added to the FATF grey list (June 2024)
• FATF / Moneyval — Monaco follow-up report (2024)
• Government of Monaco — corporate income tax (ISB)
• Crypto Briefing — Monaco 0% capital-gains tax and the French-national exception