The initiative was approved by the Budget, Finance and Public Administration Committee, with affirmative votes from PSD, PS, Chega, and CDS-PP, while the PCP voted against it.
The proposal incorporates the European regulation governing the authorization and operation of companies providing cryptocurrency services into national law. It outlines the supervision framework for the European space, establishing common regulations for the issuers of asset-referenced tokens, electronic money tokens, and cryptocurrency service providers.
The document specifies the authorities responsible for supervising this sector in Portugal, dividing oversight between the Bank of Portugal (BdP) and the Securities Market Commission (CMVM). It defines the responsibilities for cooperation both between these two national supervisors and their European counterparts.
During today’s session, an amendment proposed by PSD and CDS-PP passed, with only PCP voting against it, which establishes a transitional regulatory period for entities already engaged in these activities.
Companies will be allowed to continue their operations until July 1, 2026. Beyond this date, the new rules will apply, a shift from the government’s original plan, which foresaw the transitional phase ending by December 30, 2025.
Under the new legislation, when the Bank of Portugal receives a request for authorization from a cryptocurrency service provider, it must inform the CMVM within two business days of any notifications and authorization requests it receives. If CMVM identifies any reasons against a favorable decision, it will “send a substantiated opinion to the BdP.”
BdP will communicate to CMVM all authorization acts, “including the expansion and reduction of authorized activities,” alongside any information received from a cryptocurrency service provider intending to operate in more than one European Union country.
The legislation includes an article ensuring that “cryptocurrency service providers guarantee that the collaborators offering consulting services on cryptocurrency possess the necessary knowledge and skills to fulfill their duties.”
PS introduced an amendment proposing the term “collaborators” be replaced by “workers.” However, this initiative was rejected by PSD, CDS-PP, and Chega, maintaining the original wording.
Socialist deputy Miguel Costa Matos explained that the European regulation explicitly refers to “workers,” arguing that Portuguese legal frameworks are consistent in employment regulation, referencing “workers” instead of “collaborators.”
The proposal spurred debate among parliamentary groups, with PSD, CDS-PP, and Chega asserting that the term “collaborators” is broader, encompassing service providers as well.
“For reasons of comprehensiveness and clarity, the term should be collaborator, not worker,” argued CDS-PP deputy Paulo Núncio, a stance echoed by PSD deputy Alberto Fonseca and Chega deputy Eduardo Teixeira.
Miguel Costa Matos argued that Portugal should implement the regulation directly and that a service provider “remains a worker — an independent worker, but still a worker.”
In today’s COFAP meeting, an additional bill that complements this regulation was also voted on and approved, adapting Portuguese anti-money laundering legislation to the realities of cryptocurrency transfers, now recognizing “cryptocurrency service providers based in Portugal” as financial entities.
