Centralized exchange in Belgium
Order-book exchange that takes custody of user assets and matches trades between users.
CEX is conditionally permitted in Belgium with a local entity, subject to AML obligations and medium licensing burden.
Verdict Details
- Permitted
- conditional
- Local entity required
- Yes
- Licensing burden
- Medium
- Last updated
- 2026-07-13
AML Obligations
- Registration with the FSMA under the Law of 18 September 2017 (AML/CTF registration regime) — required before operation.
- Full AML/CTF program under the Law of 18 September 2017 (as amended by the Act of 5 August 2020 transposing AMLD5), including customer due diligence (CDD), beneficial ownership identification, ongoing transaction monitoring, and suspicious transaction reporting (STR) to the CTIF-CFI (Belgian Financial Intelligence Processing Unit).
- Travel Rule obligations under EU Regulation 2023/1113 (recast Transfer of Funds Regulation), directly applicable in Belgium from 30 December 2024: for all crypto-asset transfers involving a CASP, information must be collected and transmitted; full originator/beneficiary identity data required for transfers ≥€1,000; wallet addresses required for transfers <€1,000.
- Verification of originator information against reliable independent sources before initiating any transfer; beneficiary verification for transfers >€1,000.
- Risk-based policies and procedures for identifying and managing transfers lacking required Travel Rule information.
- GDPR compliance required for all personal data collection, processing, and storage in connection with AML/Travel Rule obligations.
- Supervised by FSMA (AML/CTF registration and supervision) and NBB (shared AML/CFT supervision under AMLA framework).
- Under MiCA (applicable from 30 December 2024 for CASPs): prudential requirements, governance arrangements, internal control mechanisms, risk management procedures, and capital requirements will apply to authorized CASPs.
Key Restrictions
- Must register with FSMA as a VASP (virtual asset service provider) under the current AML/CTF regime (not a full financial license).
- After 30 December 2024, must obtain MiCA CASP authorization from the FSMA to continue operating (MiCA will supersede the current national registration regime).
- Custody segregation is mandated under MiCA (Article 67(2)): client crypto-assets must be held separately from the firm's own crypto-assets and from other clients' crypto-assets, with distinct record-keeping.
- No explicit national segregation rules under the current AML Law for crypto assets — MiCA will provide the explicit mandate.
- No explicit national cold-storage or insurance mandates currently, though robust cybersecurity and operational risk management are expected by the FSMA.
- Local entity required: operator must be incorporated or registered in Belgium (EU passporting may be possible under MiCA for EEA-based CASPs).
Key Risks
- Transition risk: Belgium is in the process of migrating from a national AML registration regime to the full MiCA CASP authorization framework — operators must comply with both regimes during the transition period.
- Regulatory ambiguity on custody requirements until MiCA is fully applicable (30 December 2024); current law has no explicit segregation rules for crypto assets, only implied best-practice expectations.
- FSMA actively issues consumer warnings and takes enforcement action against unregistered VASPs — operating without registration carries material enforcement risk.
- Travel Rule penalties: FSMA can impose substantial administrative fines and the Law of 18 September 2017 provides for criminal sanctions (including imprisonment) for serious/repeated breaches.
- Interoperability risk for Travel Rule compliance: no single mandated messaging protocol, but IVMS101 and standardized data schemas are expected — technical compliance burden is high.
Evidence
This verdict synthesizes the following facts. Each fact links to its primary source(s).
Exchanges (Virtual currency exchange services):
Required: Registration with the FSMA.
Scope: This includes services for the exchange between virtual currencies and fiat currencies, as well as exchange services between one or more virtual currencies.
Custody Providers (Custody wallet providers):
Scope: This covers services that provide the safekeeping and management of virtual currencies on behalf of clients, including holding private cryptographic keys.
Current Regime (Belgium): It is a registration regime, primarily focused on AML/CTF compliance. It does not imply a full prudential licensing similar to banks, traditional investment firms, or e-money institutions. The FSMA grants "registration" but does not "license" in the broader financial sense that implies comprehensive prudential oversight of capital, risk management beyond AML, consumer protection, etc.
Future Regime (EU MiCA): The upcoming EU Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation will introduce a comprehensive, harmonized licensing regime across the EU for a much broader range of crypto-asset services. This will supersede the current national AML-driven registration frameworks for many activities.
Requirement: Providers of "custodian wallet services" are required to register with the FSMA. This is not a full financial services license but an AML registration.
Legal Basis: The Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on the restriction of the use of cash. Specifically, Article 5, §1, 37° designates "providers of custodian wallets" as entities subject to AML/CFT obligations.
Explicit Rules for Crypto: The current AML Law of 2017 does not explicitly detail segregation rules specifically for crypto assets.
Explicit Mandate: MiCA explicitly mandates the segregation of client assets.
Details (Article 67(2)): Providers of safekeeping and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients must:
Not use crypto-assets or funds held on behalf of clients for their own account.
Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on the restriction of the use of cash (AML Law)
Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA - Autoriteit voor Financiële Diensten en Markten / Autorité des services et marchés financiers):
National Bank of Belgium (NBB - Nationale Bank van België / Banque Nationale de Belgique):
EU Level: Yes, the FATF Travel Rule (Recommendation 16) has been adopted at the EU level through the recast Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR). This is Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, which specifically extends the rules on information accompanying transfers of funds to transfers of crypto-assets.
The recast Transfer of Funds Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 will apply from 30 December 2024.
The Travel Rule applies to all crypto-asset transfers involving a CASP, but with differentiated requirements based on transaction value: transfers below €1,000 require only wallet addresses (originator and beneficiary distributed ledger addresses), while transfers of €1,000 or more require full identifying information including names, addresses, and IDs. For self-hosted wallets, ownership verification is only required for amounts exceeding €1,000.
Originator Information: Name, crypto-asset account number (or transaction identifier), address (or national ID/customer ID, date/place of birth).
Beneficiary Information: Name, crypto-asset account number (or wallet address)
Information Transmission: The originator's CASP must transmit this information to the beneficiary's CASP immediately and securely.
CASPs must verify the accuracy of the originator's information (and beneficiary's for >€1000 transfers) based on documents or data from reliable independent sources before initiating the transfer.
Monitoring and Risk Assessment: CASPs must establish risk-based procedures for identifying and managing transfers that lack the required information.
Data Protection: Implementation must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the collection, processing, and storage of personal data.
Legal Basis: The Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on the restriction of the use of cash. Specifically, Article 5, §1, 37° designates "providers of custodian wallets" as entities subject to AML/CFT obligations.
Verdict Attribution
- Source:
- AI-Generated · Unreviewed
- AI synthesized:
- 2026-07-13 (deepseek-chat)
- Last updated:
- 2026-07-13
- Confidence:
- high
This verdict was produced by an AI model from the underlying facts. Confirm with counsel before relying on it for material decisions.
Conditional — a centralized exchange holding user assets and matching trades is permitted in Belgium, but must register with the FSMA as a VASP under the current AML/CTF regime and will need MiCA CASP authorization from 30 December 2024, with mandatory client-asset segregation (MiCA Art. 67(2)), Travel Rule compliance (EU Reg. 2023/1113), and full AML/CTF obligations under the Law of 18 September 2017.
Questions this verdict aims to answer
- What exchange / VASP license applies?
- What custody segregation rules apply to user assets?
- What market-conduct and listing rules apply?
- What travel-rule obligations apply on withdrawals?