Bulgaria: Cryptocurrency Mining and Trading under MiCA

Gregory Lutsenko

09.01.2021 | 6 min read

Updated: 15.10.2026

Crypto trading and mining in Bulgaria now follow very different rules from a few years ago. Crypto services for clients need a licence, while mining for your own account does not. This article sets out the legal position as of October 2026.

Regulations: MiCA and the Bulgarian Act

The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has applied since 30 December 2024. Under MiCA, crypto-asset services in the EU may be provided only by an authorised crypto-asset service provider (CASP) or by certain financial institutions. These services include:

• custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients;
• operating a trading platform for crypto-assets;
• exchanging crypto-assets for funds or for other crypto-assets;
• handling orders, placing, advice, portfolio management and transfers for clients.

Bulgaria adopted its Act on the Markets in Crypto-Assets on 20 June 2025. It makes the Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) the competent authority, except for matters reserved to the Bulgarian National Bank.

The transitional period has ended

Before MiCA, crypto service providers in Bulgaria needed no licence and only registered with the National Revenue Agency (NRA) under the anti-money laundering act.

Firms entered in that register before 30 December 2024 could keep working without a licence until 1 July 2026, or until the FSC decided on their licence if that came first. When the Act entered into force, the NRA stopped keeping the register and handed it over to the FSC.

The FSC has confirmed that the transitional period ended on 1 July 2026. Since then, only licensed providers may offer crypto-asset services. An unlicensed provider may not offer new services and may only carry out transactions that wind down its client relationships.

What a CASP licence requires

The main MiCA requirements are:

• a registered office in an EU Member State where part of the services is provided, effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU;
• minimum capital of EUR 50,000, EUR 125,000 or EUR 150,000, depending on the services, or a quarter of the previous year’s fixed overheads if higher.

The application goes to the FSC on the EU standard form and in Bulgarian. The FSC fee depends on the class of licence. The FSC checks completeness within 25 working days and decides within 40 working days after the application is complete. A request for more information can pause this period for up to 20 working days.

A Bulgarian licence works across the EU. To serve another Member State, the provider notifies the FSC and may start at the latest on the 15th calendar day after that. Firms licensed elsewhere in the EU can serve Bulgarian clients after notification.

AML obligations

Providers licensed in Bulgaria are obliged entities under the Bulgarian anti-money laundering act, except for crypto advice. They must assess the money laundering risk of transfers to or from self-hosted addresses. Depending on that risk, they identify the sender or recipient, ask about the origin and destination of the assets, or monitor such transfers more closely.

The mining law

Mining for your own account is not a crypto-asset service under MiCA, so it needs no CASP licence. A licence question arises once a mining business serves clients, for example by exchanging or holding their crypto-assets.

For individuals, the NRA treats income from selling or exchanging crypto-assets as income from the transfer of rights or property. It is declared in the annual tax return. If mining is run as a business, the NRA treats the income as business income of a sole trader. For the NRA, buying special computer systems to mine for profit points to such a business.

Mining can also be run through a Bulgarian company. The company’s profit is then subject to corporate income tax at 10%.

All in all, crypto services for clients in Bulgaria now need a MiCA licence. Mining for your own account needs none, but its income is taxed.

To order a consultation on crypto-activity regulation in Bulgaria, do not hesitate to contact COREDO.