What Is a VASP, and Is a VASP Licence a Crypto License?
A VASP, or virtual asset service provider, is a business that swaps, sends or holds crypto such as bitcoin for other people. The term comes from the FATF, the global body that sets anti-money laundering rules. There is no single "VASP licence". Each country licenses VASPs under its own law and its own name.
"Crypto license" is an informal term too. It is how people describe the licence their crypto business needs in one country. No law issues a document called a crypto license.
The FATF definition of a VASP
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added the term to its Recommendations in 2018. Its glossary definition opens with "any natural or legal person who is not covered elsewhere under the Recommendations". It goes on: "and as a business conducts one or more of the following activities or operations for or on behalf of another natural or legal person". Then it lists five activities:
- exchange between virtual assets and fiat currencies
- exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets
- transfer of virtual assets
- safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets or instruments enabling control over virtual assets
- participation in and provision of financial services related to an issuer’s offer and/or sale of a virtual asset
Three phrases in that definition do most of the work. "As a business" means a person who trades their own coins is not a VASP. "For or on behalf of another" means the activity is a service to clients. And "not covered elsewhere" means banks and securities firms that are already regulated stay under their own rules.
Source: FATF Glossary.
What counts as a virtual asset
The same glossary defines a virtual asset as "a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded, or transferred, and can be used for payment or investment purposes".
It then says what is left out. Virtual assets "do not include digital representations of fiat currencies, securities and other financial assets that are already covered elsewhere in the FATF Recommendations". So a tokenised share is usually treated as a security, not as a virtual asset.
The FATF does not issue licences
The FATF writes standards. It does not license anyone. Its Recommendation 15 asks each country to check VASPs for money laundering risks, and to license or register them.
So the licence you need always comes from a country’s own regulator. That is also why the names differ so much from one country to the next.
What the EU calls a VASP: a CASP
The EU’s crypto law, MiCA, does not use the word VASP. It uses crypto-asset service provider, or CASP. Article 3 of MiCA defines a CASP as "a legal person or other undertaking whose occupation or business is the provision of one or more crypto-asset services to clients on a professional basis".
MiCA’s list of services is longer than the FATF’s five. It has ten. They include custody, running a trading platform, exchange for money or for other crypto, carrying out orders, advice and managing portfolios. So a CASP licence under MiCA covers more than the FATF’s definition.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, Article 3, published June 2023.
What Hong Kong licenses today
Hong Kong’s anti-money laundering law defines a "VA service" narrowly. In the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance, Cap. 615, "VA service" means "operating a VA exchange". The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) licenses these trading platforms.
Other VASP activities from the FATF list, such as dealing directly with clients or holding their private keys, are set to get their own Hong Kong licences. The government has said it aims to put the bill to the Legislative Council in 2026. Our guide on whether your Hong Kong company needs a crypto license or an MSO licence explains the licences that apply today.
Source: Cap. 615 on Hong Kong e-Legislation, updated September 2026.
One activity, several names
| Where | Term used | Who licenses or registers it |
|---|---|---|
| FATF standard | Virtual asset service provider (VASP) | No one. The FATF sets the standard |
| European Union | Crypto-asset service provider (CASP) | Each EU country’s regulator, under MiCA |
| Hong Kong | Licensed provider of a VA service (a VA exchange) | Securities and Futures Commission |
| El Salvador | Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) | National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD) |
| United States | Money services business (money transmitter) | FinCEN registration, and state licensing |
All five are what people loosely call a crypto license. They are not the same thing, and they are not interchangeable.
What a VASP licence is not
It does not travel. A registration in one country does not let you serve clients in another. Each country decides who may serve the people who live there.
It is not always a full licence. Some countries only register VASPs for anti-money laundering checks. Others, like the EU under MiCA, add rules on capital, how firms treat clients, and how they hold client assets.
It is not a licence to issue a token. Issuing a stablecoin, or selling a new token to the public, usually has separate rules.
How to tell whether your business is a VASP
Hold your business up against the five activities in the FATF list. Ask one question for each.
- Do clients give you money, and you give them crypto, or the other way round? That is exchange between virtual assets and fiat.
- Do you swap one crypto for another for clients? That is exchange between virtual assets.
- Do you send crypto from one address to another for a client? That is transfer.
- Do you hold clients’ crypto, or the keys to it? That is safekeeping.
- Do you help a token issuer sell its token to the public? That is issuer-related financial services.
A "yes" to any one, done as a business for clients, makes you a VASP in the FATF’s terms. The next question is which country’s rules apply, and what that country calls the licence. Our guide on when you need a crypto license goes through the activities that trigger one in the EU and Hong Kong.
A "no" to all five does not always mean no licence. Selling software, mining for yourself or giving general education are usually outside the FATF list. Other rules, such as securities law, can still apply.
Which one do you need?
Start from what you do and where your clients are, not from the label. The comparison of popular crypto licences sets the main jurisdictions side by side. For help matching your activities to the right licence, see crypto licence and VASP application support.
Frequently asked questions
Is a VASP licence the same as a crypto license?
Both are informal names for the licence a crypto business needs. The legal name depends on the country, such as a CASP authorisation in the EU or a VA service licence in Hong Kong.
Who issues VASP licences?
National regulators do. The FATF only sets the standard that asks countries to license or register VASPs.
Is a crypto exchange a VASP?
Yes. Exchanging virtual assets for money, or for other virtual assets, is one of the five activities in the FATF definition.
Is a CASP a VASP?
A CASP is the EU’s term under MiCA. Its list of services is wider than the FATF’s list, so most VASPs in the EU are CASPs, and some CASPs do more than a VASP.
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*Sources: FATF Glossary; Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), Article 3 (published June 2023); Hong Kong Cap. 615 (updated September 2026).*