Crypto-Asset Service Provider
The specific authorisation category MiCA uses for regulated crypto businesses in the EU.
A Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) is the specific authorisation category the EU's MiCA framework (see Kaavon's "MiCA" glossary definition) uses for businesses providing regulated crypto services -- custody, operating a trading platform, exchange, order execution, placing, advice, portfolio management, or transfer services for crypto-assets. CASP is a MiCA-specific term; it isn't interchangeable with the broader, globally-used VASP classification (see Kaavon's "Virtual Asset Service Provider" glossary definition), even though the two categories overlap heavily in practice.
A CASP applies for authorisation from one EU member state's national competent authority (for example, the Central Bank of Ireland), under Article 62 of MiCA. Once authorised, a CASP can generally passport its services across the EU without a separate application in each member state -- a structural difference from jurisdictions that license crypto businesses on a purely national, non-passportable basis.
Examples
- An exchange seeking to operate across multiple EU countries applies for CASP authorisation once, from a single national competent authority.
- A firm already licensed as a VASP under a country's pre-MiCA AML regime still needs separate CASP authorisation to continue operating once MiCA fully applies.