Lithuania Crypto Licence 2026: The CASP Guide

If you want a full EU crypto licence and you want it soon, Lithuania is the route most operators end up choosing. A CASP authorisation from the Bank of Lithuania under MiCA passports across all 27 EU member states on a notification basis, and a complete file realistically takes three to six months. It is not a volume hub under MiCA: ESMA’s register listed 6 Lithuanian CASPs out of 352 EU-wide in our 20 September 2026 snapshot. But since the MiCA transition closed on 1 July 2026, it is a practical lawful route back in for firms that lost their old registration.

The mistake we see most often is treating this like the old Lithuanian registration, which was a cheap, fast box-tick you could stand up in a few weeks. That regime is gone. What replaced it is a real financial-services licence: genuine local substance, qualified management, an AML function and a DORA-compliant technology programme, with initial capital of €50,000 to €150,000 depending on what you do. This guide explains what a Lithuania crypto licence actually is in 2026 — the framework, the capital, the passport, the timeline, the substance, and the trade-off you are signing up for.

What a Lithuania CASP licence is — and what it replaced

A Lithuania crypto licence is a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorisation, issued by the Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos bankas) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), formally Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. It is the single EU credential for firms that provide crypto services: running an exchange, safeguarding client assets, executing orders, operating a trading platform, or advising on crypto-assets.

The word “replaced” is doing real work. Before MiCA, Lithuania ran a national VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider) registration that became famous for being cheap and fast to obtain: a light-touch registration that thousands of firms picked up with minimal substance. MiCA retired that model across the EU. The CASP licence that took its place is a proper financial-services authorisation, supervised by the central bank, with capital, governance, AML and technology obligations that the old registration never carried. If you have read our VASP, CASP and MiCA explainer, this is the same shift playing out in the jurisdiction that used to be the poster child for the old way. Anyone still marketing a “Lithuanian VASP licence” in 2026 is describing something that is either a CASP or a lapsed registration, and the difference is expensive to get wrong. Our dedicated Lithuania VASP-to-CASP transition guide walks through exactly what changes for an existing holder.

Capital by service class in Lithuania

MiCA sets minimum capital by the class of service you provide, and operators often miss that those tiers are the same in every EU country. You do not pick Lithuania for cheaper capital; the capital is fixed by the regulation. You pick it for the regulator’s speed, the ecosystem and the banking. What Lithuania determines is which class (or classes) your business falls into.

Two things matter in planning. First, the capital is not a charge. As own funds it stays in the business, or an insurance policy can cover it, and it is never paid away to the regulator. Second, the classes are cumulative: if you run an exchange with custody you are in Class 2, and a full order-book trading venue lands you in Class 3 at €150,000. Most exchange and broker projects sit at €125,000. Scoping the right class before you incorporate is the single decision that most affects your budget — our Lithuania crypto licence cost breakdown models the full year-one number, capital included, and the deeper class-by-class detail lives in our Lithuania CASP licence guide.

From Lithuania, one licence and 27 markets: the EU passport

The reason a CASP licence is worth the substance is the passport. Under MiCA Article 65, once the Bank of Lithuania authorises you, you can provide your licensed services into every other EU/EEA member state on a notification basis — the regulator in each host country is notified, and you are in. You license once and passport everywhere, instead of applying licence-by-licence across 27 jurisdictions.

That reach is what an offshore registration lacks: it makes you legal in one place, while a Lithuanian CASP covers 27 member states under the same rulebook. It also carries weight with the parties that decide whether you can actually operate: banks that hold your funds, the EMI and PI partners that provide your fiat rails, auditors and institutional counterparties. A central-bank licence opens doors an offshore permit never will.

Timeline: among the fastest in the EU

Speed is Lithuania’s headline advantage. The Bank of Lithuania built capacity for CASP files early and runs one of the shorter review queues in the EU — realistically three to six months on a complete, well-prepared application. Other EU regulators routinely run longer, which is a large part of why so much crypto activity concentrated in Vilnius in the first place.

The caveat is “complete file”. The clock that matters is not the regulator’s queue but your own preparation: the classes are scoped, the Lithuanian company is incorporated and capitalised, the programme of operations and the AML, DORA and safeguarding policies are drafted to Bank of Lithuania standard, and management is genuinely fit-and-proper. Poorly prepared applications stall in review questions, which is where most of the timeline risk sits. The delay comes from a thin file far more often than from a slow regulator. Get the documentation right the first time and Lithuania’s queue is a genuine edge; submit half-built and you inherit months of back-and-forth. Our Lithuania crypto licence requirements guide sets out the complete document and governance checklist that keeps a file moving.

The real substance requirement in Lithuania

This is where the modern Lithuania licence separates hardest from the old registration, and where the real work goes. A CASP authorisation requires a Lithuanian company, typically a UAB, with genuine local substance rather than a nominee shell. That means a registered office and a real operating presence, own funds or insurance cover at MiCA’s level, and management the Bank of Lithuania assesses as qualified and fit-and-proper, with relevant financial-services or crypto experience.

On top of the entity, you need a live compliance function. A dedicated MLRO (money-laundering reporting officer) and AML/CFT policies aligned to the EU’s 5th and 6th AML directives, the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (the Travel Rule) for originator and beneficiary data on transfers, and suitability and source-of-funds checks on shareholders and UBOs. And since 17 January 2025, MiCA firms must run a DORA-compliant ICT programme (operational resilience, incident reporting, resilience testing and third-party ICT oversight), which for a crypto business also means serious custody, key-management and cybersecurity controls. None of this existed under the old VASP registration, and it is exactly what gives the CASP licence its standing. Building it properly is a project in itself; the banking around it, meaning crypto-friendly banks and EMI/PI partners for your fiat rails, is usually the hardest single piece, as our crypto-friendly banking guide explains.

Tax, the deadline, and who it suits

On tax, Lithuania charges 17% corporate tax from 2026, with a 7% rate for small companies (up to 10 employees and revenue up to €300,000) and 0% for the first two tax periods of qualifying new small companies. The state application fee is modest, from roughly €2,300, which reinforces the point that the government fee is minor next to the real commitments of class-based capital, substance and the compliance programme. The number to plan around is the all-in cost of running a real EU-licensed business, and we model that against your service classes before you commit.

The transition dates have passed. MiCA Article 143(3) allowed member states a transitional window for legacy VASP registrations up to 1 July 2026, and Lithuania chose a shorter, 12-month period that closed at the turn of 2026. National VASP activity has given way to full CASP authorisation, and there is no route back to the old regime. If you were relying on an old Lithuanian registration, it has ended, and the CASP application is the only way to keep serving EU clients.

So who is it for? Lithuania suits operators who genuinely need the EU market and want a credible route into it, including exchanges, custodians, brokers, trading platforms and OTC desks that can meet the capital and substance bar. If your market is global or non-EU, an offshore or Gulf regime is often faster and cheaper, and no single licence covers every market — many groups run a CASP for Europe and a separate licence for the rest of the world. It is worth comparing the EU, Gulf and offshore routes side by side before you commit to Lithuania. Ready to move? Our Lithuania crypto exchange licence guide sequences the build for the most common use case.

The Lithuania trade-off

Only 6 of the 352 CASPs on ESMA’s register in our 20 September 2026 snapshot were Lithuanian, which tells you the Bank of Lithuania is no longer the rubber stamp of the old VASP days. A file takes three to six months, 17% corporate tax applies from 2026, and the DORA programme has to keep running after approval. In return you get EU-wide passporting from one authorisation, issued by a central bank.

If a full EU crypto licence is where your project is heading, we run the entire file, taking in the Lithuanian UAB, the substance and management, the AML and DORA framework, the Bank of Lithuania application and the crypto-friendly banking around it. Our fees and the state costs are shown separately. See the scope on our Lithuania crypto licence page, then book a free consultation and we’ll model the real year-one economics (the right service class, the capital, and whether Lithuania or a neighbour fits your plan) before you commit a euro.

Christina S.

Crypto Licensing at Vantegris

Christina S. is part of the Vantegris team, which prepares and files licence applications across 40+ jurisdictions. This article was reviewed by Vladyslav S. (Compliance & Legal).

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This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional before acting.