🇫🇮Finland

Detailed overview

Finland at a glance

Finland pairs a digital, EU-credible supervisor with a high personal crypto-tax burden and a gambling market mid-transition from monopoly to licensing. Crypto is supervised by FIN-FSA under the CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act; the six-month transition closed on 30 June 2025. Payments run under the Payment Institutions Act with FIN-FSA as supervisor and the Instant Payments Regulation and DORA in force. Gambling is being opened to competition under the new Gambling Act (10/2026), with licensing live from 1 July 2027 and Veikkaus retaining lotteries and land-based gaming. The euro is the currency, and Finland sits inside the euro area and banking union.

Crypto regime under MiCA — FIN-FSA-led, short transition:

• MiCA + national implementing law — Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCAR); the national CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act, which repealed the Act on Virtual Currency Providers (2019)
• Competent authority — FIN-FSA for CASP authorisation and ART/EMT supervision; the FIU (within the National Bureau of Investigation) for AML/STRs
• Grandfathering — closed. Finland took one of Europe's shortest transitions: registered virtual-currency providers could continue only until 30 June 2025 and only if they applied for CASP authorisation by 30 October 2024; unregistered firms needed authorisation by 30 December 2024
• Stricter than the old regime — MiCA introduced first-time requirements on management competence, own funds, data transparency and information security; FIN-FSA maintains a public CASP register and a warning list, and authorised its first CASPs from mid-2025
• Article 60 notifications — already-authorised financial entities may notify FIN-FSA to provide crypto-asset services within their existing authorisation
• AML/CFT — the national AML Act applies; the EU AML package (Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 / AMLR, with AMLA in Frankfurt) applies from 10 July 2027
• TFR / DORA — the Travel Rule (Regulation (EU) 2023/1113) applies from 30 December 2024 and DORA from 17 January 2025
• Tax — individual crypto gains are taxed as capital income at 30% (up to EUR 30,000 of annual capital income) and 34% above, with a EUR 1,000 annual exemption, FIFO and a deemed-acquisition-cost option (20%, or 40% if held 10+ years); mining and staking are earned income. Corporate income tax is 20%

Payments and e-money regime (FIN-FSA-led):

• PSD2 — Directive (EU) 2015/2366; transposed by the Payment Institutions Act (Maksulaitoslaki 297/2010) and the Act on Payment Services, supervised by FIN-FSA
• Payment Institution licensing — initial capital EUR 20,000 (money remittance), EUR 50,000 (payment initiation) and EUR 125,000 (other payment services)
• EMD2 / E-Money Institution — Directive 2009/110/EC; EUR 350,000 initial capital; stablecoin (EMT) issuers must be EMIs or credit institutions
• Instant Payments Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/886) — euro instant payments: receiving applicable from 9 January 2025 and sending from 9 October 2025
• DORA (Regulation (EU) 2022/2554) — applicable from 17 January 2025
• PSD3 / PSR — Commission proposals of 28 June 2023; provisional political agreement reached 27 November 2025, with final compromise texts published 23 April 2026 and formal adoption expected during 2026; the package will repeal PSD2 and EMD2 and fold e-money institutions into payment institutions, with PSD3 transposed nationally and the PSR directly applicable after a phased timeline
• Banking — in the banking union the ECB grants banking licences and directly supervises significant institutions, with FIN-FSA supervising less-significant ones
• Currency: euro (since 1999/2002); no exchange controls

Gambling regime — monopoly to licensing, mid-transition:

• Current and transitional law — the Lotteries Act (Arpajaislaki 1047/2001) and the Lottery Tax Act granted Veikkaus Oy its monopoly, supervised by the National Police Board; the new Gambling Act (10/2026) was adopted on 16 December 2025 and approved by the President on 16 January 2026
• Partial liberalisation — betting, online slot and casino games and online money bingo open to competition; Veikkaus retains a monopoly on lotteries, scratch cards and physical slot machine and casino games
• Timeline — licence applications opened to the National Police Board on 1 March 2026; licensed operations begin 1 July 2027, when the new Finnish Supervisory Agency becomes the competent authority; from 1 July 2028 operators must use only licensed gambling software
• Tax — a uniform gambling tax of 22% of gross gaming revenue will apply to both Veikkaus exclusive games and licensed operators, and the monopoly corporate-tax exemption is abolished, so all operators pay corporate income tax
• Player protection — mandatory strong identification for all gambling, a minimum age of 18 (a proposal to raise it to 20 was rejected), mandatory deposit limits, a centralised national self-exclusion register, and technical data-reporting obligations
• Åland Islands — the autonomous region runs its own regime through PAF (Ålands Penningautomatförening), separate from mainland Finland
• No EU passport — gambling is licensed nationally

Last verified: July 2026. Reference rate: USD 1 = EUR 0.87 (EUR 1 = USD 1.15).

Finland is a euro-area jurisdiction in transition: crypto runs under MiCAR and the CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act with FIN-FSA and a short, closed transition, payments sit under the Payment Institutions Act, and gambling is moving from the Veikkaus monopoly to a licensing system that opens to operators on 1 July 2027.

Is there a crypto licence in Finland?

Yes. Finland applies MiCAR through the CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act, with FIN-FSA authorising and supervising CASPs and ART/EMT issuers. The six-month transition closed on 30 June 2025, so operating now requires a FIN-FSA authorisation, a valid MiCA passport, or an Article 60 notification.

The legal foundation:

• Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCAR) — the directly applicable EU framework for offerings, admission and crypto-asset services
• CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act — the national implementing act, which repealed the 2019 Act on Virtual Currency Providers
• National AML Act — AML/CFT obligations and FIU reporting
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 — Travel Rule for crypto-asset transfers

Structure:

• A Finnish entity with fit-and-proper management and qualifying shareholders
• MiCAR own-funds floors by class — EUR 50,000 (Class 1), EUR 125,000 (Class 2), EUR 150,000 (Class 3) — with the higher of the floor or a fixed-overheads measure
• AML systems, a white paper for in-scope offerings, custody and client-asset segregation (with cold-wallet insurance where funds are custodied), conflicts, complaints and market-abuse arrangements, applying FIN-FSA's binding CASP regulations and guidelines

Operational reality:

• Finland offers EU credibility and an active, communicative supervisor, but the modern CASP regime is materially stricter than the former virtual-currency-provider register
• Personal crypto taxation is comparatively high (30%/34% capital income), which matters for founder and staff structuring though not for the licence itself
• New activity should be structured through a FIN-FSA authorisation, a valid passport or an Article 60 notification — not the closed transitional regime

Official CASP roadmap: FIN-FSA does not publish a single consolidated roadmap document, but it has issued binding CASP regulations and guidelines, maintains a public register of authorised CASPs and a warning list, and held MiCA information days; the national transition for virtual-currency providers ended 30 June 2025, after which only authorised CASPs may operate.

Payments & E-money (FIN-FSA — PSD2 / EMD2)

Best for payment, remittance, acquiring, wallet and open-banking operators that want an EU-credible euro-area base.

What it is: Authorisation as a payment institution or e-money institution under the Payment Institutions Act, supervised by FIN-FSA and passportable across the EEA.

Who it suits: Money-remittance and transfer providers, acquirers, card and wallet issuers, payment-initiation and account-information providers, and e-money issuers (including stablecoin issuers, who must be EMIs or credit institutions).

Covers: The payment services under the Payment Institutions Act — incoming and outgoing transactions, transfers, card and instrument-based payments, money remittance, payment initiation and account information — plus issuance of electronic money.

Operational requirement: A Finnish entity; minimum initial capital by service type; ongoing own-funds and safeguarding of client funds; strong customer authentication; AML/CFT; DORA operational-resilience obligations; and fit-and-proper management.

Headline figures

• Primary instruments: Payment Institutions Act (Maksulaitoslaki 297/2010, PSD2 / EMD2); Act on Payment Services; Instant Payments Regulation (EU) 2024/886; DORA
• Regulator: FIN-FSA (authorisation and supervision)
• Entry capital: payment institutions EUR 20,000 / 50,000 / 125,000 by service type; e-money institutions EUR 350,000
• Instant payments: euro instant payments receiving from 9 January 2025 and sending from 9 October 2025
• Reform pipeline: PSD3 / PSR — political agreement November 2025, compromise texts April 2026, adoption expected during 2026; EMD2 to be repealed and EMIs folded into payment institutions
• Currency: euro (euro-area member); no exchange controls

Is there a gambling licence in Finland?

Yes — newly. The Gambling Act (10/2026) opens betting, online casino and online bingo to a licensing system; applications opened to the National Police Board on 1 March 2026, and licensed operations begin 1 July 2027 under a new Finnish Supervisory Agency. Lotteries, scratch cards and land-based gaming stay with Veikkaus Oy.

The legal foundation:

• Gambling Act (10/2026) — adopted 16 December 2025, partly in force from 1 March 2026 and fully from 1 July 2027
• Lotteries Act (Arpajaislaki 1047/2001) and Lottery Tax Act — the outgoing monopoly framework, still relevant during transition
• National Police Board (Poliisihallitus) — licensing until 30 June 2027; the Finnish Supervisory Agency thereafter

Structure:

• Licence applicants must be reliable organisations suited to providing gambling services, with AML, player-protection and technical-reporting frameworks
• Betting, online slot and casino games and online money bingo are licensable; lotteries, scratch cards and physical gaming remain Veikkaus's monopoly
• A separate gambling-software (B2B) licence applies, and from 1 July 2028 operators may use only licensed software

Gambling — Competitive online licence (National Police Board / Finnish Supervisory Agency)

Best for online operators preparing now for a 1 July 2027 market opening; the application window is already open.

What it is: A licence under the Gambling Act to offer betting, online casino games or online money bingo to Finnish players.

Who it suits: Established online operators able to meet Finnish AML, identification, self-exclusion and technical-reporting requirements.

Covers: The competitive online verticals; lotteries and land-based gaming remain with Veikkaus.

Operational requirement: Strong player identification, mandatory deposit limits, integration with the national self-exclusion register, responsible-gambling tools, AML/CFT and the regulator's data-reporting and cryptographic-signing obligations.

Headline figures

• Primary instruments: Gambling Act (10/2026); Lottery Tax Act
• Regulator: National Police Board (to 30 June 2027), then the Finnish Supervisory Agency
• Timeline: applications open since 1 March 2026; market opens 1 July 2027; licensed software mandatory from 1 July 2028
• Tax: 22% of gross gaming revenue for both exclusive and licensed games; corporate income tax now applies to all operators
• Player protection: minimum age 18; mandatory identification, deposit limits and national self-exclusion
• Reserved to Veikkaus: lotteries, scratch cards and physical slot machine and casino games

Costs and timelines at a glance

• Crypto: MiCAR via the CASP and Crypto-Asset Market Act, FIN-FSA for CASPs/ARTs/EMTs; own-funds floors EUR 50,000 / 125,000 / 150,000 by class; Article 63 timeline of a 25-working-day completeness check plus a 40-working-day decision; transitional regime closed 30 June 2025 (application cut-off 30 October 2024)
• Payments primary instruments: Payment Institutions Act (PSD2 / EMD2); Instant Payments Regulation (EU) 2024/886; DORA
• Payments regulator: FIN-FSA; banking licences via the ECB/SSM (banking-union member)
• Reform pipeline: PSD3 / PSR — agreement November 2025, compromise texts April 2026, adoption expected during 2026
• Gambling: Gambling Act (10/2026) — applications open since 1 March 2026 (National Police Board), market opens 1 July 2027 (Finnish Supervisory Agency); 22% GGR tax; Veikkaus retains lotteries and land-based gaming
• Tax: corporate income tax 20%; individual crypto gains taxed as capital income at 30% / 34%
• Currency: euro (euro-area and banking-union member); no exchange controls
• FX: USD 1 = EUR 0.87 (EUR 1 = USD 1.15)

Who Finland suits and who it does not

Suitable for

• Crypto exchanges, custodians and token issuers wanting a MiCAR CASP authorisation from a digital, communicative supervisor, with EEA passporting
• Already-licensed banks, investment firms, payment and e-money institutions that can add crypto-asset services through the Article 60 notification route
• Payment, remittance, acquiring, wallet and open-banking operators — and stablecoin issuers via the EMI route — seeking a euro-area base
• Online gambling operators preparing early for Finland's new competitive market, which opens on 1 July 2027
• Operators that value EU credibility, strong consumer protection and a transparent regulatory dialogue

Not suitable for

• Firms expecting the old light-touch Finnish virtual-currency-provider model — FIN-FSA now applies full financial-services standards
• Providers relying on a former registration — the crypto transition closed on 30 June 2025
• Founders and traders seeking a low personal crypto-tax environment — Finnish capital-income taxation of crypto is 30%/34%
• Gambling operators expecting to enter the competitive market immediately — licensed operations begin 1 July 2027, and lotteries and land-based gaming remain a Veikkaus monopoly
• Payment or e-money firms expecting to avoid EU prudential, safeguarding, DORA or AML obligations