The legality of cryptocurrency business in Portugal
The Banco de Portugal, the national central bank of the Portuguese Republic, defines the legality of cryptocurrency businesses as registered activities with virtual assets, carrying out one or more of the following services:

exchange services between virtual assets and fiat currencies or between one or more forms of virtual assets;
transfer services of virtual assets;
safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments that enable the control, ownership, storage or transfer of such assets, including private encrypted keys.
Registering as a crypto business in Portugal is conditioned to the application of the AML-CFT law, as well as potentially other applicable regulations, for example in the case of a security token issuance. Emitting such a cryptocurrency in Portugal is legal, but requires licensing to the national securities commission. Under MiCA this will be regulated differently. On this matter, request our MiCA Guidelines for Professionals to ensure full compliance with MiCA when launching your token (utility or security).

A company willing to engage in a cryptocurrency venture is therefore required to comply with all the laws applicable to its specific activity, and to register accordingly. As the Banco de Portugal and other governmental bodies agree to the proposed activity and provide an authorization, the crypto business can start operating.

Cryptocurrency regulation in Portugal
Though Banco de Portugal has directly addressed the matter of virtual currencies and assets in official statements and on its website, there are no specific regulations on the matter of cryptocurrency in Portugal yet, with the exception of the global MiCA regulations, which will come into force soon.

In the eyes of the Portuguese lawmakers: “«Virtual asset» means a digital representation of value that is not

necessarily linked to a legally established currency and that does not have the legal status of a fiat currency, security or other financial instrument, but which is accepted by natural or legal persons as medium of exchange or investment and which can be transferred, stored and marketed electronically”, as referenced in the Law 99-A of 2021.

The framework for cryptocurrencies are then to be found, as in every European country, in the laws pertaining to anti money laundering and countering terrorism financing (AML-CFT). As it has been officially stated, these rules are the backbone of the crypto license in Portugal.

The previously mentioned Law 99-A of 2021 is actually relevant to the matter of AML-CFT, as it amended the previous regulation set with the Law 83 of 2017.

Portugal Virtual Cryptocurrency Registry
Having a look at the cryptocurrency business registry of the Banco de Portugal gives a clear outlook on the actors operating under a Portuguese crypto license. This register is a document issued in Portuguese on the official website of the Banco de Portugal.

Every crypto licensed company in Portugal is listed in this regularly updated PDF file. A dozen companies have been licensed in about 2 years of existence of the framework, demonstrating that the Portuguese license positions itself as a high-level authorization, aimed for prestigious projects.

It is worth mentioning that out of the dozen companies listed in the register, not all of them have started operation. This means that back and forth are still ongoing (at the issuance of the register update), a foretale that the regulator is expecting strong guarantees and a deep dialogue about the intended activities to build trust and deliver the license.