Crypto regulatory tracker

Unregulated as a product class — no dedicated crypto law

Regulator(s): Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Ministry of Finance, FIU-IND

Buying, holding and selling crypto is legal in India, but virtual digital assets (VDAs) have no dedicated regulatory law and are not legal tender. No single regulator currently oversees the sector — RBI, SEBI and the Finance Ministry are negotiating a proposed split (SEBI for exchanges/security-like tokens, RBI for cross-border flows, Finance Ministry for policy and tax). Every VDA service provider must register with FIU-IND on the FINgate portal for anti-money-laundering purposes, separate from any product regulation. The RBI has publicly opposed legalising crypto, preferring the Digital Rupee (CBDC) as its alternative; SEBI and industry bodies are pushing for clearer rules.

Tax note: 30% flat tax on crypto gains with no loss offset permitted; 1% TDS on VDA transfers above ₹10,000.

Last verified 2026-09-21

Fully regulated — MiCA in force, transitional period ended

Regulator(s): National competent authorities in each EU member state, under ESMA/MiCA

The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is the EU's binding framework. Its transitional deadline of 1 July 2026 has passed with no extensions — any crypto-asset service provider (CASP) serving EU clients must hold a MiCA authorisation from a national regulator or cease services. As of June 2026, 204 CASPs held full MiCA authorisation, including Kraken, Coinbase, Binance, OKX, Crypto.com and Bitstamp. A single authorisation passports across all 30 EEA states (27 EU members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway). Capital requirements scale by activity: €50,000 (advisory/order transmission), €125,000 (exchange/trading platforms), €150,000 (custody). CASPs must meet governance, client-asset safeguarding, IT security and disclosure requirements, including at least one EU-resident director and DORA-aligned ICT security.

Last verified 2026-09-21

Regime finalised, not yet in force — applications open 30 Sept 2026

Regulator(s): Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

The FCA published final rules for its new cryptoasset regime on 30 June 2026 (the Cryptoassets sourcebook, CRYPTO, plus the Core Prudential and Cryptoassets Prudential sourcebooks). The regime itself is expected to come into force 25 October 2027, but the application window opens earlier — 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 — and firms that apply in that window get transitional permission to keep operating while their application is assessed. Several components (DeFi, cryptoasset derivatives, stablecoin policy, audit and financial-crime guidance) are still under active policy development, so the regime is finalised in outline but not yet complete in every detail.

Last verified 2026-09-21

Fragmented — federal guidance issued, comprehensive market-structure law still pending

Regulator(s): Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), State-level regulators

No single comprehensive federal crypto law exists yet. On 17 March 2026 the SEC and CFTC jointly issued an interpretation classifying crypto assets into five categories (digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins, digital securities) and clarifying how existing securities/commodities law applies to each. The SEC proposed further rulemaking ("Regulation Crypto Assets") on 18 August 2026 for investment-contract-like crypto assets. Stablecoins are further along: the GENIUS Act has been in force since July 2025, and the OCC proposed a federal framework for payment-stablecoin issuers in February 2026. The broader market-structure bill (the CLARITY Act, passed the House 294–134 in July 2025) remains pending in the Senate. Until it passes, exchanges operate under a patchwork of federal interpretation plus state-level licensing (e.g. NY BitLicense).

Last verified 2026-09-21

Regulated for domestic service, near-frozen for overseas-only providers

Regulator(s): Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Two separate regimes exist. Digital Payment Token (DPT) licensing under the Payment Services Act covers firms serving Singapore-based customers — 37 entities held an active DPT-related Major Payment Institution licence as of 19 June 2026. Separately, the Digital Token Service Provider (DTSP) licence under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2022 covers Singapore-incorporated entities serving overseas clients only, in force since 30 June 2025 — but as of 7 September 2026, more than 14 months in, no DTSP licence has been publicly granted at all, out of 3,653 entities across 48 licence types in MAS's own directory. MAS has signalled it expects to grant DTSP licences only sparingly, effectively closing that route for most overseas-focused crypto businesses incorporated in Singapore.

Last verified 2026-09-21

Regulated — mandatory licensing, actively enforced

Regulator(s): Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) — Dubai, Four other UAE-level regulators for activity outside VARA's Dubai remit

VARA is the sole regulator for virtual-asset activity across Dubai's mainland and free zones (excluding the DIFC financial free zone, which has its own regime). A VARA Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence is mandatory to run an exchange, custody service, broker-dealer or advisory business in or from Dubai — there are seven distinct licence categories, each requiring separate authorisation with no bundled multi-activity licence. Over 20 entities hold VARA licences directly, and over 80 VASPs are licensed across the UAE's five regulators combined. VARA's updated Exchange Services Rulebook took effect 31 March 2026, and enforcement has tightened through 2026: robust custody segregation, fit-and-proper assessments and ongoing supervisory reporting are now standard expectations, not just guidance.

Last verified 2026-09-21