Buy-side mandate · Ireland CASP
Buy a CASP in Ireland — MiCA-authorised crypto licence
Cadena Brokers represents acquirers buying a Central Bank of Ireland-supervised Crypto-Asset Service Provider, authorised under the MiCA framework with EU-wide passporting from day one.
Ireland is one of the small handful of EU member states where the Central Bank has actually issued CASP authorisations rather than published guidance and waited for filings. Confirmo’s MiCA approval landed in April 2026; Kraken’s CASP file was the most-watched application of the 2025 transition window. For an acquirer, that scarcity matters: a target with the authorisation already in hand is materially different from a target whose application is mid-flight.
We work the buy-side of that gap. Every Irish CASP in our book has been pre-vetted on regulatory standing with the Central Bank, banking continuity (the issue most acquirers under-budget for), and AML programme integrity. You meet the entity. We structure the change-of-control. The seller exits.
Why Ireland
Central Bank-supervised, EU-passportable, English-law
The Central Bank of Ireland is the National Competent Authority for MiCAR, designated under Statutory Instrument No 607 of 2024 (the European Union (Markets in Crypto-Assets) Regulations 2024). Authorisation is granted on a service-by-service basis from the Title V catalogue: custody and administration of crypto-assets, operation of a trading platform, exchange of crypto-assets for funds or other crypto-assets, execution of orders, placement, reception and transmission of orders, advice, portfolio management, and transfer services for crypto-assets.
An Irish CASP authorisation passports across all 27 EU member states without a fresh national filing. That single feature is why acquirers pay a premium for Irish-licensed entities versus comparable Lithuanian or Maltese targets. A CBI authorisation is treated by other NCAs as a credible signal, not a procedural one. The 12.5% corporation-tax rate (for businesses under the €750m global-revenue OECD threshold) is the secondary incentive that comes up in every model we build.
The Central Bank’s published risk appetite for CASPs is high-threshold and firm-specific. Four principles drive supervisor decisions: scepticism of speculative retail crypto distribution, no presumption that an existing VASP registration translates to a CASP grant, full disclosure of all MiCA activities (including planned medium-term scope), and acceptance that a zero-failure risk appetite is not feasible. Acquirers should read those principles as a filter. Ireland is not the right jurisdiction for an aggressive retail-token model. It is the right jurisdiction for an institutional, compliance-led acquirer.
Scope
What a MiCA-authorised CASP permits
The licence covers any combination of the Title V crypto-asset services your post-acquisition business model requires. Statutory minimum capital scales with that scope: €50,000 for the lightest service set (typically reception and transmission of orders, advice, placement), €125,000 for an exchange or order-execution model, and €150,000 for custody and administration or for operating a trading platform. Most acquirers buy at the €125,000 or €150,000 tier, since anything narrower constrains the post-close revenue thesis.
Two ongoing obligations sit alongside the headline scope. First, segregation: client crypto-assets must be held separately from the firm’s own assets, with a daily reconciliation discipline the CBI examines on supervisory visits. Second, prudential and conduct overlays from DORA (operational resilience) and the Consumer Protection Code addendum that the CBI extended to MiCA activities. These are not exotic obligations, but they need to be integrated on day one rather than treated as a second-stage project.
What we broker
Pre-vetted acquirer-grade CASP entities
Our Irish CASP book contains MiCA-authorised entities held by founders looking for a controlled exit, plus a smaller set of late-stage applicants (file lodged, KFD reviewed, awaiting supervisory sign-off) where the price reflects the residual approval risk. We do not publish target details. Generic acquirer profile language is what reaches your inbox first; the entity opens up under NDA after the initial fit conversation.
Three diligence gates determine whether a target actually closes, regardless of how the headline authorisation reads:
- Banking continuity. Most CASP targets in Ireland depend on one or two banking or EMI relationships for euro rails. Whether those relationships survive a change of beneficial owner is a Central Bank-adjacent question, not a Central Bank one, and it is the most common reason transactions slip. We map the banking stack before introducing the target.
- AML programme integrity. The Central Bank examines the carry-over of the seller’s AML programme into the acquirer’s group. A target with weak transaction-monitoring evidence, or unresolved STR backlog, will not pass change-of-control assessment regardless of headline capital.
- FTE retention. The MiCAR substance test the CBI applies presumes a local crypto-competent executive and board. A target whose key personnel signal departure on close is a target whose authorisation is at risk in the first supervisory cycle.
Process
The acquirer’s side of the transaction
NDA, target dossier, indicative price. Where you proceed, we structure the share purchase and the change-of-control filing with the Central Bank in parallel. The regulatory submission gates the legal close, not the other way around. Expedited closings on the Irish CASP cluster have moved through CBI prior-approval inside the standard 25 + 40 working-day window where the acquirer is institutionally credible and the target’s file is clean.
Why Cadena
Single-side mandate, Irish-CASP focus
- Buy-side only. We never act for the seller in the same transaction. Your interests are not split with the entity you are diligencing.
- CBI prior-approval fluency. The change-of-control file for a CASP is procedurally close to the EMI and PI prior-approval files our team has already run with the same regulator. The failure modes are not new to us.
- Banking-stack mapping before introduction. If the target’s euro rails will not survive your acquisition, we tell you before you sign the NDA.
FAQ
Acquirer questions on the Irish CASP route
How do I buy a CASP licence in Ireland?
Acquisition runs through a share purchase of the entity that holds (or has filed for) the Central Bank of Ireland CASP authorisation under MiCAR, plus a change-of-control prior-approval submission to the CBI. Cadena brokers pre-vetted Irish CASP entities to qualified acquirers under a buy-side-only mandate; you receive the target dossier under NDA, we structure the transaction, and the regulatory file moves in parallel with legal close. Expedited closings on a clean target are routine where the acquirer can demonstrate fit-and-proper standing and the post-close substance plan.
Can I acquire a MiCA-authorised entity in Ireland instead of applying from scratch?
Yes. That is the entire reason this market exists. A fresh MiCAR CASP application in Ireland involves a pre-application engagement phase, a Key Facts Document, and a 25 + 40 working-day formal assessment. Acquiring an authorised entity collapses the application risk into change-of-control risk, which is a smaller and better-understood file. The CBI does not run a simplified VASP-to-CASP conversion route, so the value of an entity that has already cleared the CASP threshold is real and measurable.
What does the Central Bank of Ireland look at in change-of-control approval?
Fit-and-proper assessment of the acquirer’s qualifying shareholders, the proposed board and senior management, source of funds, and the business plan post-close. The CBI also tests whether the post-close entity will continue to satisfy MiCAR substance: local crypto-competent executive presence, autonomous governance, full control of client assets, and full transparency on direct and indirect shareholders. A target whose existing key personnel are not staying, or whose local substance was thin to begin with, will get pushed for remediation before approval.
What is the VASP transition deadline under MiCAR in Ireland?
VASPs registered with the Central Bank before 30 December 2024 may continue to provide MiCAR-scope services until 30 December 2025. After that date a CASP authorisation is mandatory, and the CBI has stated that holding a VASP registration does not predict CASP success, since the authorisation thresholds are different. A late-2025 acquirer of a transitioning VASP needs to underwrite the conversion file as a real risk, which is part of why authorised CASP entities trade at a premium to in-flight applicants.
Does an Irish CASP licence passport across the EU?
Yes. The MiCAR passporting regime gives a CASP authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland the right to provide its in-scope services in all other EU member states via a notification to the host NCA, without re-authorisation. That passport is one of the central reasons Ireland sits in the top tier of EU CASP jurisdictions for institutional acquirers, since it converts a national licence into a 27-country distribution footprint.
Why do some buyers wait on the Kraken and Confirmo precedents before acquiring?
The CBI is still calibrating its supervisory expectations on a firm-by-firm basis. Visible precedents (Kraken’s Ireland CASP grant in mid-2025, Confirmo’s stablecoin-platform approval in April 2026) narrow the range of what the regulator considers acceptable substance and business model. For acquirers running a comparable model, the precedents lower the discount you have to apply for regulatory uncertainty. We track CBI grant patterns weekly and will tell you which targets in the book sit closest to a precedent the CBI has already approved.
Cluster pages: EU-wide CASP hub · MiCA licence overview · Germany (BaFin) · Cyprus (CySEC) · Full coverage list
Buy-side enquiry
Speak with our Irish CASP team
Send a one-paragraph profile of the acquirer, the post-close service scope, and any preference on capital tier. We respond inside one business day with the matching set from the current book, plus the banking-stack readout for each.
