Romania Curated

DeFi Intel Research Desk2026-07-14Europe

Is crypto legal in Romania? (2026)

Yes — cryptocurrency is legal in Romania. Current status: Legal — but no domestic CASP licensing (implementation stalled). Oversight sits with ASF — not designated as MiCA competent authority; BNR for e-money/EMT. Full details — governing law, licensing, tax and dated enforcement history — follow below (last reviewed 2026-07-14).

Framework: MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), directly applicable — but Romania's national implementing law has not been adopted; the AML side was transposed by Emergency Ordinance (OUG) 10/2025 amending Law 129/2019; the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 applies directly.

Romania is, alongside Poland, one of only two European Union member states where the MiCA machinery still does not function domestically — but it arrived there by the opposite route. There is no presidential veto here; there is a governance vacuum. MiCA has applied directly in Romania since 30 December 2024, yet the national law needed to operationalise it — designating a competent authority, creating crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorisation procedures and an administrative-sanctions regime — has never been adopted. The Autoritatea de Supraveghere Financiară (ASF) has stated plainly that it "is not currently designated as the competent authority for applying Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA)" and that it therefore "cannot receive and cannot resolve authorisation applications" made under that regulation. As of mid-2026 the number of MiCA CASP authorisations issued in Romania is zero, and the number of applications the ASF has been able to accept is likewise zero.

A widespread misconception — repeated by several commercial licensing pages — holds that Government Emergency Ordinance 10/2025 already "transposed MiCA and designated the ASF." It did not. OUG 10/2025 (in force 13 March 2025, Monitorul Oficial no. 225) amended the anti-money-laundering statute, Law 129/2019, to carry over the EU's AML crypto obligations: risk assessment of transfers to and from self-hosted addresses, single points of contact, and the information-accompanying-transfers duties of Regulation (EU) 2023/1113. That is the AML side of the crypto file. It is not the MiCA prudential and authorisation framework, and it did not confer on the ASF the power to license CASPs. Treat any claim that a Romanian ASF CASP licence already exists as inaccurate.

The MiCA implementation stall

The framework ordinance that would designate the ASF and open CASP authorisations was drafted by the Ministry of Finance and reached first reading in the Government's session of 2 April 2026. It advanced no further. The governing coalition then fractured — the PSD withdrew on 20 April 2026 — and the Bolojan Government was dismissed by a no-confidence vote on 5 May 2026. Under the Romanian constitution a caretaker government cannot adopt emergency ordinances, and Parliament subsequently entered its summer recess until 1 September 2026. The result is a hard stop: the single instrument that could give Romania a working MiCA regime cannot be adopted by the executive and cannot be passed by a Parliament that is not sitting, so the earliest realistic window is the autumn 2026 session.

Brussels has taken notice. The European Commission opened infringement proceedings with a letter of formal notice to Romania on 7 May 2025 over the missing transposition and, critically, the absence of the administrative-sanctions rules MiCA required member states to have in place by 30 June 2025. On 4 June 2026 the Commission decided to escalate, giving Romania two months to remedy the gaps before the file can move toward the Court of Justice of the European Union. Romania shares this step with Poland — the EU's two problem cases on MiCA implementation, reached by opposite routes: a triple presidential veto in Warsaw, a collapsed government in Bucharest.

For firms the bind is much the same as Poland's. MiCA's transitional grandfathering nominally lets pre-existing providers keep operating until 1 July 2026, or until a CASP authorisation is granted or refused — but in Romania there was no domestic authority to which a CASP dossier could actually be submitted, so the "apply for national authorisation" condition was impossible to satisfy. Since 1 July 2026, providing crypto-asset services to Romanian clients without a MiCA authorisation (obtained in a functioning member state and passported in) breaches directly applicable EU law. According to figures cited by the Association of Fund Administrators and the Investor Compensation Fund, roughly 600,000 Romanian crypto users are affected. In practice the lawful market has migrated to CASPs licensed elsewhere in the EU and passporting services into Romania.

Tax treatment

Tax is the part of Romania's crypto regime that does function — and it became more expensive on 1 January 2026. The rate on gains from the transfer of virtual currency by individuals rose from 10% to 16% as part of the 2026 fiscal package, Law 141/2025, an increase the Constitutional Court validated in late 2025. The "10%" figure that still circulates — and that appeared in a previous version of this profile — is stale for any gain realised from 1 January 2026 onward. The long-standing de-minimis exemption survives: a gain is not taxed where the profit on a single transaction is below RON 200 and cumulative annual gains do not exceed RON 600. Individuals declare crypto income to ANAF via the Declarația Unică (form D212).

• Capital-gains rate: 16% flat on individuals' crypto gains from 1 January 2026 (Law 141/2025), up from 10%
• De-minimis exemption: exempt where the gain per transaction is under RON 200 and total annual gains do not exceed RON 600
• Health contribution (CASS): a separate 10% may apply where total annual non-salary income crosses the minimum-wage-indexed thresholds (6/12/24 gross minimum wages), levied on a capped base
• Holding-period rule: none — no reduction or long-term relief

Two further points matter. First, reporting is tightening: Romania transposed the EU's DAC8 crypto-tax-reporting directive (Directive (EU) 2023/2226) via Emergency Ordinance 71/2025, so crypto-asset service providers will report user transaction data to ANAF, with the first cycle covering 2026 activity. Second — and a common source of confusion — a temporary exemption for crypto gains was never actually enacted. An amendment that would have zero-rated gains realised up to 31 July 2025 was passed by Parliament but never promulgated: President Iohannis referred the law to the Constitutional Court (his challenge reportedly targeted a separate provision of the same act — a tax facility for Baptist Institute employees — not the crypto exemption), after which it was returned to Parliament and the Senate ultimately stripped the crypto exemption out. It never entered into force, so taxpayers who relied on press reports of a Romanian "crypto tax holiday" were mistaken.

Travel rule applicability

Status: yes — EU Transfer of Funds Regulation, no de-minimis threshold. Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 has applied directly across the EU since 30 December 2024: crypto-asset service providers must attach complete originator and beneficiary information to every crypto-asset transfer, with no minimum-value exemption. Romania's OUG 10/2025 folded the corresponding obligations — including risk management for transfers to and from self-hosted wallets, and single points of contact — into the national AML law (Law 129/2019), supervised by the ONPCSB together with the ASF and the National Bank of Romania (BNR). As in Poland, the supervisory wrinkle is that with no designated MiCA competent authority for CASPs, day-to-day prudential supervision of the (foreign-licensed) providers actually serving Romanian clients sits primarily with their home-state regulators.

Notable enforcement and regulatory events

• 30 December 2024. MiCA's CASP titles begin applying directly across the EU; Romania's deadline to notify full transposition passes un-met.
• 13 March 2025. OUG 10/2025 enters into force (Monitorul Oficial no. 225), transposing the AML side into Law 129/2019 — the crypto travel-rule and self-hosted-wallet obligations — but not the MiCA CASP authorisation framework.
• 7 May 2025. The European Commission sends Romania a letter of formal notice over the missing MiCA transposition and the absent administrative-sanctions rules (due by 30 June 2025).
• 2 April 2026. The Ministry of Finance's framework ordinance — which would designate the ASF and open CASP authorisations — reaches first reading in the Government; it advances no further.
• 5 May 2026. The Bolojan Government is dismissed by a no-confidence vote (the PSD had left the coalition on 20 April); the caretaker cabinet cannot adopt emergency ordinances, and Parliament recesses until 1 September 2026.
• 4 June 2026. The Commission escalates the infringement, giving Romania two months to comply before a possible referral to the Court of Justice of the EU.
• 1 July 2026. MiCA's transition ends EU-wide; unauthorised providers may no longer serve Romania's ~600,000 crypto users — none of whom can be served by a Romanian-authorised CASP, because none exists.

Public licensed CASP list

Romania publishes no licensed-CASP register because no CASP can be authorised in Romania: the framework law that would give the ASF authorisation competence has not been adopted, and the ASF has confirmed it cannot receive applications. Romanian users are lawfully served by CASPs authorised in other EU member states and passported in — verify a provider's home-state entry in ESMA's MiCA registers. If and when Romania adopts the framework law and designates the ASF, DeFi Intel will mirror the official register here. Corrections and primary-source links: research@defi-intel.com.

Comparison to neighbours

Compare Romania crypto regulation with three geographically adjacent jurisdictions:

Doing business in Romania — practical notes

There is currently no Romanian CASP authorisation to apply for — the ASF cannot accept a dossier — so the only compliant route to serve Romanian clients is a MiCA authorisation obtained in a functioning member state and passported into Romania. Firms should treat any counterparty claiming to hold, or to be "about to receive," a Romanian ASF CASP licence with scepticism: as of mid-2026 that licence does not exist. On tax, model for 16% from 1 January 2026 rather than the superseded 10%, keep transaction-level records for the RON 200 / RON 600 de-minimis test, and budget for the 10% CASS where non-salary income crosses the minimum-wage-indexed thresholds; providers should prepare for DAC8 reporting to ANAF on 2026 activity. Watch two triggers for change: the return of Parliament on 1 September 2026 — the earliest realistic window to adopt the framework law — and the Commission's infringement clock, which could force the pace. Nothing here is legal or tax advice; verify against the ASF, ANAF, the BNR and the Monitorul Oficial before acting.

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. The prior version of this page carried a stale 10% tax rate and repeated the common error that OUG 10/2025 designated the ASF for MiCA; both have been corrected. Submit corrections and primary-source links to research@defi-intel.com.

Sources

• StartupCafe — ASF cannot authorise crypto platforms; verbatim "not designated as competent authority"; framework ordinance first reading 2 Apr 2026, government fell 5 May 2026, Parliament recess to 1 Sep 2026
• HotNews — Crypto platforms cannot be authorised by the ASF because Romania has no approved national legislation
• StartupCafe — From 1 July 2026 unauthorised MiCA platforms cannot serve ~600,000 Romanian users
• Digi24 — European Commission continues the MiCA infringement procedure against Romania (decision 4 June 2026; letter of formal notice 7 May 2025)
• Universul Juridic — OUG 10/2025 amends AML Law 129/2019 (crypto travel-rule / self-hosted-wallet obligations)
• Lege5 — Full title of OUG 10/2025 (modifying Law 129/2019 on AML/CFT)
• AInvest — Romania's 2026 crypto and dividend tax hike to 16% (Law 141/2025), effective 1 Jan 2026
• Koinly — Romania crypto tax guide 2026 (16% rate, RON 200 / RON 600 de-minimis, CASS, DAC8 reporting)
• Waltio — Romania crypto tax 2026: CASS thresholds, DAC8 via OUG 71/2025, Declarația Unică (D212) filing
• StartupCafe — The 2025 crypto tax exemption was not promulgated; President Iohannis referred the approving law to the Constitutional Court (his challenge targeted a separate provision — a tax facility for Baptist Institute employees — not the crypto exemption)
• avocatnet.ro — The Senate removed the temporary crypto-gains income-tax exemption
• Chambers & Partners — Blockchain & Crypto-Assets 2026: Romania (trends and developments)
• EUR-Lex — Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 on information accompanying transfers of funds and certain crypto-assets (travel rule)