Portugal Curated

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Europe

Is crypto legal in Portugal? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Portugal. Current status: Legal — MiCA operational since Dec 2025; first CASP Jun 2026. Oversight sits with Banco de Portugal (authorisation/prudential) + CMVM (conduct/market abuse). Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) + Law No. 69/2025 (MiCA implementation) + Law No. 70/2025 (Transfer of Funds Regulation implementation), both in force 23 December 2025; Law No. 83/2017 (AML — the legacy Banco de Portugal VASP registration regime); Lei n.º 24-D/2022 (crypto tax, since 1 January 2023).

Portugal spent almost the entire first year of MiCA without an implementing act. The regulation's CASP titles began applying on 30 December 2024, but the national laws that operationalise it — Law No. 69/2025 (MiCA) and Law No. 70/2025 (the crypto travel rule), both of 1 December — were only published in the Diário da República on 22 December 2025 and entered into force the next day, making Portugal one of the last EU member states to complete transposition. The laws set up a functionally split, dual-supervisor model: Banco de Portugal receives CASP authorisation applications and supervises prudential matters, stablecoin issuers (Titles III–IV) and orderly wind-down, while the CMVM polices conduct of business, other crypto-assets (Title II) and market abuse (Title VI), under a mandatory close-cooperation regime.

The bridge across that gap was grandfathering. Portugal notified ESMA of MiCA's full 18-month transition: virtual-asset service providers registered with Banco de Portugal under Law No. 83/2017 before 30 December 2024 could keep operating until they obtained (or were refused) a CASP authorisation, or until 1 July 2026, whichever came first. That cliff has now passed — since 1 July 2026, the legacy BdP VASP registration is no longer a lawful basis to operate.

Portugal produced its first fully authorised CASP just before the deadline: Bison Bank announced on 22 June 2026 that it had become the country's first MiCA-regulated crypto-asset service provider, after Banco de Portugal approved the merger of its subsidiary Bison Digital Assets (created in 2022 as Portugal's first bank-owned VASP) into the bank, with favourable notice from both regulators. When we last checked ESMA's consolidated CASP register (13 July 2026), no Portugal home-state entry had yet appeared — the interim register is updated periodically and lags national decisions.

MiCA implementation: the dual-supervisor model

Law No. 69/2025 divides MiCA down the middle. Banco de Portugal is competent for Titles III and IV (asset-referenced and e-money tokens), CASP authorisation and significant-CASP oversight (Title V, chapters 1, 4 and 5) and Articles 67–69, 73 and 74; the CMVM is competent for Title II (other crypto-assets), Title VI (market abuse), Title V chapter 3 (CASP conduct obligations) and Articles 66 and 70–72. Applications go to Banco de Portugal, which coordinates with the CMVM — the CMVM issues an opinion in the process — and Article 5 of the law obliges both authorities to exchange all supervision-relevant information. The sanctions regime provides fines up to €2.5 million for individuals and €5 million for companies for the most serious administrative offences.

Tax treatment

Portugal's famous 0% crypto regime ended — partially — on 1 January 2023, when Lei n.º 24-D/2022 (the 2023 State Budget law) brought crypto-assets into the Personal Income Tax Code. Gains on crypto-assets that are not securities, held for less than 365 days, are taxed at a flat autonomous rate of 28%. Gains on holdings of 365 days or more remain excluded from taxation — the headline survival of Portugal's competitive advantage — and holding periods that began before 1 January 2023 count towards the 365 days. Crypto-to-crypto swaps are not taxed at the moment of exchange: taxation is deferred until an effective disposal for cash or non-crypto consideration.

Professional activity is different: the law expressly brings mining and transaction validation into Category B (business/professional income), and habitual trading is taxed under normal business rules rather than the capital-gains regime. Long-term holders should note the exclusion applies to the capital-gains category — reporting obligations still apply.

• Capital-gains rate: 28% flat (holdings <365 days); option to aggregate instead
• Holding-period rule: ≥365 days — excluded from taxation (pre-2023 holding time counts)
• Crypto-to-crypto: not taxed at swap; deferred until disposal for fiat/goods
• Mining/validation/professional trading: Category B business income

Travel rule applicability

Status: yes — EU Transfer of Funds Regulation, no minimum threshold. Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 has applied since 30 December 2024, and Law No. 70/2025 (in force 23 December 2025) anchors it in Portuguese law: originator and beneficiary information must accompany all crypto-asset transfers irrespective of value, and for transfers of €1,000 or more involving self-hosted wallets, CASPs must verify wallet ownership and apply risk-based controls. Supervision follows the BdP/CMVM split described above. An earlier version of this profile cited a "USD/EUR 1,000 threshold" for the travel rule generally — under the EU regime there is no de-minimis threshold; the €1,000 figure applies only to the self-hosted-wallet ownership check.

Notable enforcement and regulatory events

• 1 January 2023. Lei n.º 24-D/2022 takes effect: 28% tax on short-term crypto gains, 0% preserved beyond 365 days — the end of blanket tax-free crypto in Portugal.
• 30 December 2024. MiCA's CASP titles apply; BdP-registered VASPs enter the 18-month grandfathering window.
• 22 December 2025. Laws No. 69/2025 and 70/2025 are published (in force 23 December 2025) — Portugal finally operationalises MiCA, roughly a year after it began applying.
• 22 June 2026. Bison Bank becomes Portugal's first MiCA-regulated CASP, absorbing its Bison Digital Assets subsidiary with approval from Banco de Portugal and favourable notice from the CMVM.
• 1 July 2026. The transitional regime expires; legacy Law 83/2017 VASP registrations cease to be a lawful operating basis.

Public licensed CASP list

Portugal's first — and so far only publicly announced — MiCA CASP authorisation is Bison Bank (Lisbon), which announced on 22 June 2026 that Banco de Portugal had approved the merger of its VASP subsidiary Bison Digital Assets into the bank, making it the first credit institution in Portugal operating directly as a CASP (custody, exchange and advisory services for institutional clients). As of our last check of ESMA's consolidated CASP register (13 July 2026), no Portugal home-state entries were listed yet; the interim register lags national decisions, and Banco de Portugal's June authorisation should appear in due course. Firms that held only the legacy BdP VASP registration lost their operating basis on 1 July 2026. Portuguese users are otherwise served by CASPs passported in from other EU member states. DeFi Intel mirrors the official register — this list will be updated as Portugal entries appear.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Portugal crypto regulation with three nearby European jurisdictions:

Doing business in Portugal — practical notes

New CASP applications go to Banco de Portugal, with the CMVM issuing an opinion — budget for MiCA's own-funds classes (€50,000 / €125,000 / €150,000 depending on services). The regime is brand new: with one authorisation granted and the transition just closed, expect procedures to be slower and less documented than in Austria or Czechia, and check both the BdP and ESMA registers in counterparty diligence — a Law 83/2017 VASP registration alone no longer authorises anything. Passporting in from another EU home state remains the practical route for pan-EU platforms. For individuals, Portugal is still one of Europe's most attractive venues for long-term holders: gains on crypto held 365 days or more stay outside the capital-gains net, while short-term trading pays 28% and professional activity falls into Category B. Two claims in the previous version of this profile — a 2024 "CMVM CASP-transition framework" and a 2025 Banco de Portugal sanction against a crypto ATM operator — could not be verified against any primary or reliable secondary source and have been removed.

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

• DLA Piper — Portugal implements laws on crypto-assets and transfer of funds regulations (Laws 69/2025 & 70/2025, published 22 Dec 2025)
• Morais Leitão — Implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation in Portugal (BdP/CMVM split of competences)
• Cuatrecasas — Law implementing the MiCA Regulation in Portugal
• Bison Bank — Bison Bank becomes Portugal's first MiCA-regulated crypto-asset service provider (22 June 2026)
• Lusa (via AMAN) — Portugal: Bison Bank first crypto-asset service provider in country
• Portugal Resident — New crypto-asset rules come into force in Portugal (sanctions up to €2.5M/€5M)
• LVP Advogados — Crypto-assets in Portugal: current tax framework (28%/365-day rule, crypto-to-crypto deferral)
• 21 Analytics — Portugal travel rule regulation (no de-minimis; €1,000 self-hosted wallet verification)
• ESMA — List of MiCA Article 143(3) grandfathering periods (Portugal: 18 months)
• ESMA — interim MiCA register of authorised crypto-asset service providers
• EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets