Virtual assets

The CSSF is aware of the attention paid in recent years by the general public and professionals to virtual assets. These assets exist in the form of tokens issued through distributed ledger technology and can have various characteristics.

Faced with such financial innovations, the CSSF promotes a neutral and prudent regulatory approach.

The CSSF’s message is therefore not limited to a warning but it invites investors to be cautious and recommends that they obtain information on virtual assets before making any decision. Virtual currencies, for example bitcoin, are a sub-category of virtual assets and are not suitable due to their volatility for all investor profiles.

It is therefore essential that any investor considering the acquisition of virtual assets understands the risks they present and the regulatory framework that applies to them. In this regard, virtual assets are governed in Luxembourg by the Law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (“AML/CFT Law”).

You can find in this section the publications issued by the CSSF on the subject of virtual assets.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-Assets (“MiCAR”) entered into force on 29 June 2023.

Among the activities within the scope of MiCAR are the activities of offering to the public or seeking admission to trading of asset-referenced tokens (“ART”) and electronic money tokens (“EMT”) and issuing such tokens. These activities will be subject to Titles III and IV of MiCAR from 30 June 2024.

The CSSF reminds investors that, until that date, ARTs or EMTs do no constitute regulated products in Luxembourg.