In connection with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation ( MiCA for short), which has been fully applicable in the European Union since 30.12.2024, we provide clients currently doing business with crypto-assets (in particular, through trade licenses, the provision of virtual currency exchange services and the provision of virtual currency wallet services), as well as clients who are interested in operating in this area as a regulated institution, with legal services on how to comprehensively prepare for the new MiCA regulation, including preliminary consultations with the National Bank of Slovakia on their (planned) business model.

Cryptoasset services are those services and activities related to any cryptoasset under the MiCA Regulation:

• Providing custody and management of cryptoassets on behalf of clients;
• Operating a trading platform for cryptoassets;
• Exchange of cryptoassets for funds;
• Exchange cryptoassets for other cryptoassets;
• Execution of orders relating to cryptoassets on behalf of clients;
• Placement of cryptoassets;
• Receiving and transmitting orders relating to cryptoassets on behalf of clients;
• Providing advice in the field of cryptoassets;
• Providing portfolio management of cryptoassets;
• Provision of cryptoasset transfer services on behalf of clients;

In practice, therefore, any legal persons or undertakings wishing to carry out the above-mentioned activities, resp. Any company or legal entity wishing to provide the above services in the European Union will need a CASP authorisation. This includes, for example, the following current business models:

• Various cryptocurrency platforms and exchanges;
• Cryptocurrency wallet providers;
• Administrators of various cryptomining strategies;
• Intermediaries of exchange of cryptocurrencies for FIAT currency or other cryptocurrency;
• Advisory services for investments in cryptocurrencies or cryptoassets in general.

If you are unclear whether your business model will be regulated by MiCA regulation, and therefore whether you should prepare for licensing proceedings before the National Bank of Slovakia, you can discuss this topic with our partner Peter Varga, who has been working on cryptocurrency regulation for a long time:

If the client decides to apply for a CASP licence, we represent the client from the initial consultation of its business plan with the National Bank of Slovakia and subsequently in the preparation of the licence application, including the individual annexes, in cooperation directly with the client and, where appropriate, its other advisors, for example, in the field of IT security. After the application for a licence has been submitted, we represent the client before the National Bank of Slovakia in the licensing procedure itself, in which the National Bank of Slovakia will comprehensively assess the application with all its annexes.

Although MiCA regulation is a relatively new regulation and CASPs will become a completely new regulated entity, the topic of cryptoasset regulation has been comprehensively addressed for a long time, whether in the context of taxation, in the area of tokenised financial instruments, or even directly by presenting at the NBS conference on MiCA regulation. In the past, we have advised clients on legal and tax issues such as:

• Creating a platform for cryptocurrency trading, including the legal structuring of staking strategies,
• Primary issuance of hybrid tokens as well as their placement on a decentralised exchange as part of a secondary sale,
• Primary Token Issuance (ICO) and Security Token Issuance (STO),
• Establishing and managing alternative investment funds located in offshore jurisdictions and investing in cryptoassets,
• Structuring the business model in connection with the creation of cryptocurrency portfolio management services,
• Assessing the compliance of the cryptocurrency business model with the regulation of payment services and electronic money,
• Creating investment products investing in crypto assets for client customers,
• Creating a study for a client aimed at creating a legal and tax framework for the operation of its internal token system.

At the same time, as we have been involved in financial regulation for a long time and thus represent clients in authorisation, registration and sanction proceedings before the National Bank of Slovakia, our know-how is an elementary prerequisite for qualified representation of a client in the licensing proceedings for CASP activities before the National Bank of Slovakia. Our extensive experience in the field of financial regulation is demonstrated by the successful conferences (one of the largest of its kind in Slovakia) we have organised, whether in the area of real estate financing or the establishment and operation of investment funds.