The transition ended on 1 July 2026. What remains is perimeter, remediation and exit.
The CSSF transitional period for registered virtual asset service providers ended on 1 July 2026. A provider without a CASP authorisation may now only facilitate the orderly exit of its customers — conversion to fiat, transfer to an authorised provider or to the client's own wallet — and take on no new business. For firms on either side of the MiFID II line, the questions are which regime the instrument falls under, what to stop, and how to move clients without creating a second problem.
Who it is for
- A registered VASP that did not obtain, or withdrew, a CASP application and now needs a documented exit plan the CSSF will recognise.
- A CASP applicant operating under restrictions who needs to know exactly which activities are still permitted.
- An issuer or platform whose instrument may be a financial instrument under MiFID II rather than a crypto-asset — the perimeter decides everything downstream.
- A group deciding whether to restructure Luxembourg activity toward an authorised partner or toward the securities perimeter — see tokenisation.
- A board that needs the wind-down itself run — see liquidation.
What you receive
- Perimeter memorandum — MiCA versus MiFID II classification for each instrument and activity, with the CSSF and ESMA positions stated separately from the text.
- Remediation plan — what stops, what continues under which exemption, what needs an authorised partner; sequencing and communication.
- Orderly exit plan — customer conversion and transfer mechanics, communications, custody for the period strictly necessary, governance and record-keeping during wind-down, closure of the entity where required.
- Regulator file — the correspondence and evidence set a supervisory query will ask for.
How it runs
Indicatively two to four weeks for a perimeter memorandum; six to twelve weeks for an exit plan.
- Scoping call. Instruments, activities, customer base, current registration status.
- Engagement letter. Perimeter memorandum, remediation plan and/or exit plan as deliverables.
- Delivery. Classification → plan → customer communications → execution support.
- Review session; handover to counsel or the liquidator where the entity closes.
Where the text and practice diverge
- Article 143(3) MiCA allowed up to 18 months; Luxembourg took all of it. The CSSF's July 2026 communiqué is narrower than the Regulation reads: no new clients, no new wallets, no advertising, and custody only for as long as the exit takes.
- ESMA's statement of 23 June 2026 frames the residual activity as actions necessary to sell or transfer crypto-assets, reallocate assets or close positions. Whether portfolio rebalancing for an existing client fits inside that is a judgement, not a rule.
- The MiFID II boundary is fact-specific. Tokenised units of a fund, a note issued out of a securitisation vehicle, and a "utility" token with a redemption feature can each land on either side; the classification memo is where the risk actually sits.