The Portuguese parliament has passed three decrees implementing European Union regulations, including the European Market in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA), approved in 2023, which had not yet been applied in Portugal.
According to a statement from the Presidency of the Republic, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed concerns about cryptocurrencies, citing issues related to their nature, function, taxation, systemic risks, and regulatory control effectiveness.
“The European Commission itself considers the existing European control insufficient before strengthening the role of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as a central supervisory entity,” the statement reads.
President Rebelo de Sousa shared many of these concerns, yet decided to promulgate the three decrees from the Assembly of the Republic for three reasons: to prevent Portugal from being penalized for not implementing EU regulations, to ensure that some regulatory control, albeit insufficient, is better than none, and because the legislation grants powers to the Bank of Portugal and the Securities Market Commission (CMVM), in addition to the European regulations, if necessary.
The Assembly of the Republic approved these decrees on December 5.
The decree aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing in digital asset operations, implementing European regulation 2023/1113 into national law, was approved with votes from PSD, CDS-PP, PS, Chega, Livre, PAN, and JPP, with PCP, BE, and IL abstaining.
The legislation implementing the EU’s new rules under regulation 2023/1114, known as “Mica”, received approval with votes from PSD, CDS-PP, PS, Chega, IL, PAN, and JPP, while PCP and BE voted against, and Livre abstained.
The first legislative text adapts current anti-money laundering regulations, already applicable in the financial sector, to crypto-asset transfers.
Starting July 1, 2026, “crypto-asset service providers based in Portugal” authorized to operate in the country will be considered financial entities for supervision by the Bank of Portugal, abiding by the same rules banks follow to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
If financial entities detect a “high risk” of money laundering in fund or crypto-asset transfers, they must “know the entire circuit of funds or crypto-assets” and “all participants” to ensure that only entities or individuals authorized to process crypto-asset operations are involved.
The second proposal complements this initiative. It defines the supervisory authorities for this sector in Portugal—dividing oversight between the Bank of Portugal (BdP) and the Securities Market Commission (CMVM)—and outlines cooperation obligations between these two supervisors and between national entities and their European counterparts.
In the same session, another decree implementing European regulation 2024/886 on instant credit transfers in euros was also approved by the President of the Republic. This text passed with support from PSD, CDS-PP, PS, Chega, IL, Livre, and JPP, with PCP, BE, and PAN abstaining.
