Virtual Asset Service Provider

A Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) is a regulatory classification, used across many jurisdictions' anti-money-laundering frameworks, for businesses that provide services such as exchanging, transferring, or safekeeping crypto assets on behalf of customers.

The term comes from the Financial Action Task Force (see Kaavon's "Financial Action Task Force (FATF)" glossary definition), which in 2018–2019 amended its Recommendation 15 and its interpretive note to cover virtual assets. FATF's definition covers any business that, for or on behalf of another person, conducts one or more of five activities:

1. Exchange between virtual assets and fiat currencies.
2. Exchange between one or more forms of virtual assets.
3. Transfer of virtual assets.
4. Safekeeping and/or administration of virtual assets, or of instruments enabling control over them (custody).
5. Participation in, and provision of financial services related to, an issuer's offer and/or sale of a virtual asset.

Being classified as a VASP generally brings specific compliance obligations, such as KYC/AML requirements (see Kaavon's "Know Your Customer" and "Anti-Money Laundering" glossary definitions) and Travel Rule participation (see Kaavon's "Travel Rule" glossary definition).

FATF sets standards but doesn't license anyone: each country decides how to implement them, which is why "VASP" means different things in practice. Some jurisdictions only require a VASP to register with an AML supervisor; others require a full licence covering conduct, capital, and governance. The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) uses its own term, crypto-asset service provider (CASP), with an authorisation regime that goes well beyond AML registration. Whether a particular business is a VASP — and what it then needs — depends on the specific activity and the jurisdiction.