Big Changes for Crypto in Portugal This Week

Portugal just regulated crypto. The Bank of Portugal is now in charge. If you hold, trade, or earn in crypto while living here, the rules changed on Wednesday. It's Saturday, 4 July. Thirty-one degrees. Here's what you need to know.

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PORTUGAL JUST REGULATED CRYPTO. IF YOU HOLD OR TRADE DIGITAL ASSETS, THE RULES CHANGED THIS WEEK.

On Wednesday, July 1, Portugal's new regulatory framework for crypto-assets came into force. The Bank of Portugal and the Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários (CMVM) are now jointly responsible for authorising and supervising every crypto-asset service provider operating in the country. The era of Portugal as Europe's unregulated crypto haven is over.

The legislation (Law No. 69/2025) implements the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) into Portuguese law. Until this week, Portugal had operated under a minimal anti-money-laundering-only framework. Crypto exchanges, wallet providers, and brokers registered with the Bank of Portugal but faced little oversight beyond AML checks. That arrangement ended at midnight on Tuesday.

Under the new rules, any entity providing crypto-asset services in Portugal must hold a full MiCA authorisation from the Bank of Portugal. Firms already registered before December 30, 2024, had an 18-month transitional window to apply for the new licence. That window closed on July 1. Firms that haven't received authorisation must stop operating.

The penalty regime is significant. Operating without authorisation, manipulating markets, or providing false information to regulators or clients are classified as "very serious" offences. Fines can reach €5 million for companies and €2.5 million for individuals. The Bank of Portugal and CMVM will publish and regularly update lists of authorised providers, so you can check whether your platform is legal.

The Portuguese Association of Payment Institutions and Electronic Money (ANIPE) has warned that the transition could "bring the Portuguese market to a standstill." With just days before the deadline, the number of entities properly authorised under MiCA was minimal. Former President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signed the legislation despite personal reservations, arguing that "inadequate control was better than none."

For expats and digital nomads holding crypto in Portugal, three things to check this weekend. First: is your exchange or wallet provider authorised under the new regime? If not, your assets may be at risk. Second: are you reporting crypto gains correctly? Portugal's historically lenient tax treatment is tightening alongside regulation. Third: if you earn income in crypto (freelance payments, staking rewards, DeFi yields), those earnings are now subject to clearer reporting obligations.

Bottom line: Portugal ranked 20th globally in crypto adoption per capita. It attracted digital nomads and blockchain startups partly because the regulatory framework was thin. That changed on Wednesday. The rules are now European. The oversight is now real. Check your platform, check your reporting, and check your exposure.

⚡ QUICK HITS

Lisbon is selling €59 million worth of abandoned land at public auction. Vice-president Gonçalo Reis confirmed that plots with no active projects will go to auction, with the revenue earmarked for accelerating city investment. For a city that needs 300,000 more homes, the question is whether this land becomes housing or simply changes owners at a higher price.

Parque Tejo is getting a major green upgrade following the recent Rock in Rio festival. The first phase of this transformation includes planting meadows and native shrubs, alongside installing brand-new park equipment. The redevelopment will gradually turn the area from a temporary event site into a permanent urban park for eastern Lisbon, with massive transit upgrades like the new light rail extension arriving by 2028. The park was originally built for World Youth Day in 2023, and while it will continue to host future editions of Rock in Rio, these updates ensure it serves the community year-round. Wondering what comes next for the Rock in Rio grounds? If you were at the festival last weekend, here is how the space is changing.

Ferry service is returning to Parque das Nações from 2027. Vereadora Joana Baptista confirmed that boats from Cais do Sodré and Terreiro do Paço will extend to the eastern waterfront. For anyone living or working in Parque das Nações, this reconnects the fastest-growing part of the city to the river transport network.

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🍽️ SPOT OF THE DAY

ZÉ DOS CORNOS (MOURARIA)

In a dead-end alley between Rua da Madalena and Martim Moniz, a family from Ponte de Lima has been feeding Lisbon for four generations. The original Zé was a charcoal burner. His wife Maria started cooking. People came. They never stopped.

The name needs explaining. Zé Ferreira came home one day with a pair of hunting trophy horns and hung them on the wall. The neighbourhood started calling him Zé dos Cornos (Zé of the horns). In Portuguese, "cornos" also means something else entirely, which Zé apparently found funny enough to keep. His portrait, complete with horns, still hangs above the entrance. His grandson Marco runs the room now, with his father João stepping out from behind the counter to add details to the family story whenever the mood takes him.

The food is the kind of cooking that exists because a kitchen has been doing the same thing for decades and has stopped overthinking it. Pork ribs grilled over charcoal, served with arroz de feijão (bean rice) for €12 a dose, which feeds two. Bacalhau à Brás. Alheira with a fried egg. Pork secretos. Lamb chops that multiple reviewers call the best in Lisbon. The house red wine arrives in unmarked bottles for €3 a glass.

The room is a tasca in its purest form. Tiled walls. Paper tablecloths. Communal wooden tables. The tradition of seating strangers together is deliberate: Marco once sat an Italian and a Brazilian at the same table, they talked through lunch, continued talking after, and eventually got married. They wanted to hold the wedding dinner at the restaurant.

Something worth mentioning, cash only. No reservations. The queue is the entrance exam. Service is brisk to the point of brusque, and you may share your table with people you've never met. A "dose" feeds two. A "meia dose" is the half portion for one. Come hungry.

→ Four generations. Charcoal-grilled ribs. Find them here ←

Mouraria, at Beco dos Surradores 5, between Rua da Madalena and Martim Moniz.

Insider tip: Arrive when they open at noon. Order the entrecosto (ribs) and the arroz de feijão. Accept the table you're given and the company that comes with it. Bring cash. Leave full.

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