Spain's MiCAR transitional period under Article 143(6) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 expired on 30 June 2026. CASPs active before 30 December 2024 could continue operating under Spain's pre-MiCA national regime until that date. Spain applied the maximum 18-month grandfathering period and was the only EU Member State to extend beyond the 12-month baseline, which ended for most jurisdictions on 31 December 2025. The Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) stated it would enforce the deadline from 1 July 2026.
Article 143(6) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 set the maximum national transitional period at 18 months from 30 December 2024. CASPs without authorisation must obtain approval under Article 59 or cease providing services listed in Annex I of MiCAR. Annex I covers ten categories of covered crypto-asset services, including operation of a trading platform, custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients, and exchange of crypto-assets for fiat currency. The CNMV began accepting authorisation applications in September 2024. As of May 2026, approximately three CASPs held full CNMV authorisation.
CASPs that operated under Spain's pre-MiCA advertising registration or VASP registration lose grandfathering protection after 30 June 2026. They must hold CNMV authorisation or stop serving Spanish customers. Affected services include exchange, custody, portfolio management, transfer agency, and all other Annex I services delivered to persons in Spain. Non-EU operators serving Spanish customers remotely face the same authorisation requirement. MiCAR-authorised firms from other EU Member States may passport services into Spain under Title III of MiCAR after completing the required CNMV notification.
The CNMV has not published a formal enforcement grace period for firms with pending authorisation applications submitted before 30 June 2026. Firms in that position face an uncertain regulatory posture during the CNMV review window. Member State regulators in France and Germany, whose grandfathering periods ended earlier, have taken different enforcement approaches for pending applicants. No ESMA supervisory statement has addressed the treatment of pending applications uniformly across the EU.
Licentium advises crypto-asset service providers on MiCAR authorisation strategy, CNMV engagement, and EU passport notifications through counsel in Spain and across EU jurisdictions. Contact us to discuss authorisation timelines, service scope analysis, or transitional compliance posture. Work we undertake includes MiCAR authorisation applications, CASP governance design, white-label and custody structuring, passport notifications, and pre-authorisation compliance readiness assessments.