DeFi regulation in Belgium

Identify the competent Belgian authority

The National Bank of Belgium's MiCAR overview explains the division established by the law of 11 December 2025. FSMA generally supervises CASPs, while NBB retains competence for relevant entities already under its supervision that offer crypto services. NBB also has the main ART and EMT issuance role, with specified responsibilities for other authorities.

Use the legal entity's institutional status, not the branding of its app, to select the procedure. The FSMA CASP page distinguishes Article 63 authorization from Article 60 notification for eligible financial institutions. Notification is service-specific and is not a general exemption from crypto supervision.

Prepare a file for the correct route

For cases within its competence, FSMA publishes separate contacts for CASP applications and institutional notifications, together with the relevant EU forms. A bank or another NBB-supervised applicant should follow its applicable NBB route instead of assuming the FSMA channel covers every entity.

The FSMA notice on the transition's end sets the national transition in its historical context. It ended by July 2026. Check current permission and the services it covers. A pending application is not permission to continue active business.

Start the evidence file with a service map: who holds customer assets, who executes orders, which entity receives fees and who can change contract code. For a controlled DeFi interface, those facts support the MiCA scope assessment. A fully decentralized arrangement without an intermediary needs a different analysis.

Keep authority, service and evidence aligned

This DeFiSec matrix helps the team maintain one consistent description across the supervisory file, the customer contract and the deployed service.

To examine custody at the code and access-control level, see Pharos Production's analysis of smart contract risk in crypto custody. Use its technical questions to prepare evidence for the responsible entity. A smart contract assessment does not establish FSMA or NBB approval.

Read registers at the level of the service

Check the official national information together with the relevant EU register and cross-border record. A list restricted to FSMA-authorized Belgian providers does not describe every institution under NBB supervision or every EU provider serving Belgium.

Record the permission's legal entity, service categories and current status. Compare them with the customer journey before release and after any group restructuring. For ART or EMT issuance, reopen the issuer-specific route; CASP authorization alone does not resolve the issuer's obligations.

The DORA evidence guide covers continuing ICT responsibilities once the relevant entity and scope have been established.