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BoL is MiCA NCA for ART/EMT issuers and CASPs; ART/EMT requirements from 30 June 2024, MiCAR full from 30 Dec 2024; LT Law on Markets in Crypto-Assets in force 25 July 2024; EMT issuance restricted to authorised EMIs/credit institutions; CASP transition cut-off 1 Jan 2026.
The live transition dynamic concerns the migration of existing virtual-asset service providers into the CASP regime. Lithuania initially set a 1 June 2025 CASP licensing deadline for existing VASPs but, following a surge of applications and Seimas amendments in May 2025, extended the mandatory CASP licensing deadline to 1 January 2026 for firms that applied in time, with prior FNTT supervision applying during the transition. The accelerated-but-extended transition has shaped which crypto operators retained EU market access through the Lithuanian gateway, and the 1 January 2026 cut-off is the hard migration date.
Outlook
The W2 trajectory is escalating. The immediate forward marker is the 1 January 2026 CASP cut-off, which is logged as a regulatory horizon and which determines the survivorship of transitioning VASPs in the Lithuanian crypto market. The combination of EMT issuance restricted to EMIs and credit institutions plus the EMI-as-EMT-issuer bridge positions Lithuania as a leading EU stablecoin venue, a theme that connects directly to the commercial-event activity captured in W13.
Stablecoins & Digital Money
Lietuvos bankas authorised Micar assets, UAB as a crypto-asset service provider under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, the fourth such authorisation granted in Lithuania. The authorisation covers custody, exchange and order execution for both retail and professional clients, extending the range of licensed digital-asset services available under Lithuania's MiCA regime. This authorisation places Lithuania second in the Nordic-Baltic region for CASP authorisations, behind Finland, continuing a steady build-out of the jurisdiction's licensed digital-money and crypto-asset-services perimeter.
Separately, and on the electronic-money side of digital money regulation, Bank of Lithuania Resolution 247, recast by Board Resolution No. 03-33 of 6 March 2025, together with Resolution No. 03-119, entered into force on 1 January 2026. These resolutions establish safeguarding and governance requirements for Lithuanian electronic money institutions, with the safeguarding mechanism built around segregation of client funds. This is a standing structural requirement for EMIs operating in the jurisdiction, distinct from but complementary to the MiCA CASP authorisation track, since EMIs and CASPs are licensed under separate regimes even where a single corporate group may hold both authorisation types.
Taken together, these two developments show Lithuania continuing to build out both strands of its digital-money regulatory architecture: electronic money under a safeguarding-focused national regime, and crypto-assets under the directly applicable MiCA framework, with authorisation activity continuing in the latter.
Continued CASP authorisation activity at a similar pace is the expected trajectory absent any signalled change in Lietuvos bankas's approach. The practical effect of the EMI safeguarding resolutions on existing Lithuanian e-money institutions' operational practices is a relevant area to watch as the 1 January 2026 effective date is now in force.
Sources and findings (4 unique sources · R-3/R-4)
The Bank of Lithuania is designated as the national competent authority for licensing and supervising entities subject to MiCAR; ART/EMT issuer requirements applied from 30 June 2024 and MiCAR in full from 30 December 2024, with a Lithuanian transitional period for certain crypto-asset services remaining until 31 December 2025 under prior FNTT supervision.
- [W2-E2] T3 Derived: Probable in_forcehttps://www.globallegalinsights.com/practice-areas/blockchain-cryptocurrency-laws-and-regulations/lithuania/ re-verified
Following entry into force of the Lithuanian Law on Markets in Crypto-Assets and related amendments on 25 July 2024, the Bank of Lithuania was appointed supervisor of ART and EMT issuers, and from 30 June 2024 credit institutions and EMIs operating in Lithuania may issue and distribute EMTs and ARTs after meeting all applicable MiCA requirements.
Under MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), only authorised EMIs or credit institutions may issue e-money tokens in the EU, so a Lithuanian unrestricted EMI licence provides the regulatory status to act as an EMT issuer, subject to additional MiCA reserve, redemption and white-paper obligations.
Lithuania initially set a 1 June 2025 CASP licensing deadline for existing VASPs but, following a surge of applications and Seimas amendments in May 2025, extended the mandatory licensing deadline to 1 January 2026 for firms that applied in time.