Getting a payment, e-money or crypto licence in Estonia as a non-EU founder
Your business is based outside the EU and you want to offer payment, e-money or crypto-asset services from Estonia. One authority, Finantsinspektsioon, grants all three licences. A crypto licence application costs EUR 3,000 and is filed in Estonian through the authority's portal, and the old virtual currency licences issued by the FIU stopped counting on 1 July 2026.
What a non-EU founder faces in Estonia
Seven obligations, who carries them and how long each step takes.
| Obligation | Rule | Who | When or how long | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licence | Finantsinspektsioon grants crypto-asset service provider (CASP), payment institution (PI) and e-money institution (EMI) licences | The company that will provide the service | Before the first regulated service | Crypto Markets Act § 6, Finantsinspektsioon |
| Crypto licence fee | EUR 3,000 per application | The CASP applicant | With the application | Finantsinspektsioon |
| Filing and language | Crypto files go through the Finantsinspektsioon portal and are written in Estonian | The CASP applicant | Portal in use since 18 March 2026 | Finantsinspektsioon |
| Crypto licence decision | Completeness check, then assessment of the complete file, which the authority can pause | Finantsinspektsioon | 25 working days, then 40 working days; pause of up to 20 working days | Finantsinspektsioon, MiCA art. 63 |
| Old FIU crypto licences | Virtual currency licences issued by the FIU were removed when the MiCA transition ended | Former FIU licence holders | Since 1 July 2026 | Finantsinspektsioon, 30 June 2026 |
| PI or EMI licence decision | Decision within 3 months of a complete application | Finantsinspektsioon | 3 months from the complete file | PSD2 art. 12 |
| Seat and management | CASP: registered office in Estonia, effective management in the EU, at least one director resident in the EU. PI: head office in Estonia and part of the business there | The applicant company | In place before filing | MiCA art. 59(2), PSD2 art. 11 |
The sections below take each line in turn. Fees and deadlines are those in the official sources as read on 6 November 2026.
The crypto-asset licence (CASP) in Estonia
A MiCA licence granted by Finantsinspektsioon, with an Estonian-language file.
A company that wants to provide crypto-asset services from Estonia applies to Finantsinspektsioon for a licence under MiCA and the Estonian Crypto Markets Act (krüptovaraturu seadus). The application fee is EUR 3,000. Since 18 March 2026, applications go through the Finantsinspektsioon portal, and the file is written in Estonian (Finantsinspektsioon, crypto-asset licence).
The authority's page accepts English in one situation it describes. We have not confirmed the exact condition, so ask Finantsinspektsioon before you commission a translation or draft in English.
Completeness check
MiCA gives the authority 5 working days to acknowledge receipt. Finantsinspektsioon then has 25 working days to check that the file is complete (Finantsinspektsioon, MiCA art. 63).
Assessment and decision
Once the file is complete, Finantsinspektsioon has 40 working days to assess it and can pause that period for up to 20 working days. MiCA then allows 5 working days to notify the decision (Finantsinspektsioon, MiCA art. 63).
Old FIU crypto licences ended on 1 July 2026
Estonia applied an 18-month MiCA transition (ESMA list of transitional periods). It ended on 1 July 2026, and the virtual currency licences issued by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) were removed from that date (Finantsinspektsioon, 30 June 2026). An Estonian company that held an FIU licence before July 2026 holds no crypto-asset licence today. Check the Finantsinspektsioon licence, not the FIU one, before you buy or take over a company presented as licensed.
Payment and e-money institution licences
The same authority, a different law and a different clock.
Finantsinspektsioon also licenses payment institutions and e-money institutions, under the Payment Institutions and E-money Institutions Act (Finantsinspektsioon).
The decision period comes from PSD2: 3 months from receipt of a complete application. If the first file is incomplete, the 3 months run from receipt of all the information needed for the decision (PSD2 art. 12). Each missing document pushes back the day the clock starts.
We have found no official figure for the application fee of a payment or e-money institution licence in Estonia. Ask Finantsinspektsioon for it before you set a budget.
What a non-EU founder has to set up in Estonia
The licence goes to an Estonian company. A company registered outside the EU cannot hold it.
For a crypto-asset licence, MiCA requires a legal person with its registered office in a member state where it provides at least part of its crypto-asset services, its effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU (MiCA art. 59(2)). For an Estonian licence, that means an Estonian company that provides at least part of its crypto-asset services in Estonia and is managed from within the EU.
For a payment institution, PSD2 reserves the licence to a legal person established in a member state, with its head office in the state of its registered office and at least part of its business carried out there (PSD2 art. 11(1) and 11(3)). A payment company registered in Estonia but run entirely from abroad does not meet this rule.
A director who lives in the EU
A crypto company whose directors all live outside the EU does not meet MiCA. Decide who the EU-resident director is and where the company is managed before the file is drafted (MiCA art. 59(2)).
Someone in Estonia for the file
Because the crypto file is written in Estonian, a founder from outside the EU needs someone in Estonia who can prepare it and file it with Finantsinspektsioon (Finantsinspektsioon).
Using an Estonian licence in other EU countries
Finantsinspektsioon is your home authority and informs each host country.
MiCA passport
Finantsinspektsioon passes your notification to the host countries within 10 working days. You may start there from the 15th calendar day after your notification at the latest (MiCA art. 65).
PSD2 passport
Finantsinspektsioon sends your file to the host country within 1 month of receiving it complete. The host authority then has 1 month to assess it (PSD2 art. 28(2)).
The EU base behind the Estonian file
Initial capital, the passport and the seat rules are set by EU law. The EU minimums are EUR 20,000 for a payment institution that only remits money, EUR 50,000 for payment initiation, EUR 125,000 for the services in points 1 to 5 of Annex I to PSD2, EUR 350,000 for an e-money institution and EUR 50,000 to EUR 150,000 for a crypto-asset service provider depending on its class (PSD2 art. 7, EMD2 art. 4, MiCA art. 67). Serving EU clients with crypto-asset services from abroad without a licence is allowed only when the client acts on its own exclusive initiative (MiCA art. 61). Our country-by-country comparison of fintech licences sets Estonia beside the other member states.
From first plan to licence in Estonia
In the order a newcomer meets them. Only the official deadlines are shown; your preparation time comes on top.
Set up the Estonian company and its management
Registered office in Estonia. For a crypto licence, effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU; for a payment institution, the head office in Estonia.
Prepare the file in Estonian
Ask Finantsinspektsioon whether your case is the one in which English is accepted. If not, the whole crypto file is in Estonian.
File through the portal and pay the fee
Crypto applications go through the Finantsinspektsioon portal with the EUR 3,000 fee. For a PI or EMI we found no official fee figure.
Acknowledgement and completeness check
The authority confirms receipt of the crypto file, then checks that it is complete.
Assessment and decision
The assessment can be paused for up to 20 working days, and the decision is notified within 5 working days. For a PI or EMI, PSD2 sets 3 months from the complete file instead.
Passport to other EU countries
Crypto: notification passed on within 10 working days, start from the 15th calendar day at the latest. Payments: 1 month for Finantsinspektsioon, then 1 month for the host country.
What official sources do not settle
Three points remain open in the sources we read. We found no official guidance on the application fee for a payment or e-money institution licence. The exact condition under which Finantsinspektsioon accepts a crypto file in English is not confirmed. Finantsinspektsioon's payments page also gives an outer time limit and practical durations for a PI or EMI decision, but we have only seen them in a search extract, not in an official source we could read in full (Finantsinspektsioon, PI and EMI licences). Confirm each point with Finantsinspektsioon or a licensed adviser in Estonia before you build a budget or a launch date on it.
What Balt Partners coordinates
One contact for the Estonian licence project. A licensed local adviser handles the filing.
Obligation map and calendar
The authority, fee, file language and official deadlines for the licence you plan, set out in one calendar.
The filing in Estonia
We bring in a licensed adviser in Estonia, who prepares the Estonian-language file and handles the filing with Finantsinspektsioon.
Board and head office checklist
What MiCA and PSD2 ask of the directors and the head office, listed so the people and the office are in place before drafting starts.
A Latvian company for the rest of the group
If your group also needs an EU company for work that needs no licence, we form a Latvian SIA with its bank account and accounting set-up.
Still choosing a country? Our guide to PI, EMI and CASP licences in Europe compares the authorities, fees and deadlines. For the company side, see how non-residents form a company in the EU.
Questions from non-EU founders about Estonia
Finantsinspektsioon grants all three: crypto-asset service provider licences under MiCA and the Crypto Markets Act, and payment and e-money institution licences under the Payment Institutions and E-money Institutions Act.
Finantsinspektsioon charges an application fee of EUR 3,000. The company also needs the EU minimum capital, from EUR 50,000 to EUR 150,000 depending on its class. We have found no official fee figure for a payment or e-money institution licence.
It checks completeness within 25 working days, then assesses the complete file within 40 working days. The assessment can be paused for up to 20 working days. Your own time to prepare the Estonian-language file comes on top.
No. Estonia's MiCA transition ended on 1 July 2026, and the virtual currency licences issued by the Financial Intelligence Unit were removed from that date. A company that wants to provide crypto-asset services from Estonia now needs a MiCA licence from Finantsinspektsioon.
As a rule, no: the file is written in Estonian. Finantsinspektsioon accepts English in one case described on its page, but we have not confirmed the exact condition, so ask the authority before you prepare the file.
The licence goes to a company, not to the founder. Under MiCA, that company needs its registered office in Estonia with part of its services provided there, its effective management in the EU and at least one director resident in the EU.
PSD2 requires a decision within 3 months of a complete application, or of all the information needed if the first file was incomplete. Other time limits mentioned for Estonia are not confirmed in an official source we read, so check them with Finantsinspektsioon.