Capital
What has to be placed, and evidenced — regulatory capital, bonds or liquidity. The figure regulators publish is rarely the whole cost.
Licensing
Compare jurisdictions like an operator
The decision is not which regime has the lowest fee or the fastest advertised timeline. It is which regime lets your model operate, bank and scale — across88 documented regimes in 5 families. Below, each family is held to the same five tests.
Method
The five tests we apply
The same axes for every family, so a comparison is a comparison — not whichever number flatters the option we are looking at.
Substance
Local entity, resident directors, office and a real compliance function. Substance is what a bank looks at after the certificate.
Timeline
Realistic time to authorisation, and which part of it you actually control. A complete file on first submission is the single biggest lever.
Banking access
Whether the licence makes banks and payment providers more likely to onboard you, or harder. An unbankable licence is no licence at all.
Reputational cost
How the licence is read by tier-1 counterparties, exchanges and institutional investors. Cheap offshore regimes carry a premium here.
Comparison
Families, side by side
Qualitative reads across the five tests. Exact capital, fees and timelines are jurisdiction- and class-specific — and are given in a scoped assessment.
Crypto
Crypto & Digital Asset Licensing
VASP, MiCA, DABA, DLT and register-based regimes for exchanges, custodians, brokers and token issuers.
30regimes mappedBrowse family
- Capital
- Low to moderate — the focus is evidence of capital and liquidity rather than a large blocked deposit.
- Substance
- Light in offshore regimes, materially heavier under MiCA and U.S. frameworks.
- Timeline
- Weeks in fast offshore regimes; several months for EU and U.S. pathways.
- Banking access
- The binding constraint. Plan banking and payments before filing, not after approval.
- Reputational cost
- Mixed — tier-1 counterparties scrutinise offshore VASPs closely and price the jurisdiction in.
Banking
Banking & Payment Licensing
EMI, PSP, MTO, MSB and offshore bank charters for payment institutions, neobanks and lenders.
24regimes mappedBrowse family
- Capital
- The highest of any family — regulatory capital must be placed in full and evidenced.
- Substance
- Substantial — local presence, a functioning board and a dedicated compliance function.
- Timeline
- The longest path, frequently a year or more from a standing start.
- Banking access
- The authorisation largely is the banking answer, if it is granted — which is the hard part.
- Reputational cost
- The highest standing available; a banking licence travels where a registration does not.
Gaming
Gaming & Wagering Licensing
Casino, sportsbook and sweepstakes authorizations for operators building resilient, bankable iGaming businesses.
21regimes mappedBrowse family
- Capital
- Moderate — operating capital plus safeguards for player funds.
- Substance
- Moderate — local entity, certified game software and fit-and-proper key personnel.
- Timeline
- Months, varying with jurisdiction and licence class.
- Banking access
- Difficult. Payment handling and player-fund safeguarding usually drive the structure.
- Reputational cost
- The widest range of any family — tier-1 licences hold up, others actively hinder banking.
Forex
Forex & Brokerage Licensing
Brokerage, dealing and investment-firm permissions for FX, CFD and multi-asset retail brokers.
13regimes mappedBrowse family
- Capital
- Low to moderate, rising sharply in tier-1 jurisdictions with tighter conduct rules.
- Substance
- Light to moderate, with growing local-office expectations in the more serious regimes.
- Timeline
- Weeks to months, depending on the regulator and the licence class.
- Banking access
- Difficult — counterparties price brokerage risk closely and prefer a familiar regulator.
- Reputational cost
- Depends almost entirely on the specific regulator and the class of licence.
Securities
Securities & Capital Markets Licensing
Broker-dealer, asset manager and investment-platform licensing for traditional and tokenized markets.
1regimes mappedBrowse family
- Capital
- Substantial — net-capital, bonding and ongoing financial-responsibility requirements.
- Substance
- Substantial — qualified supervisory personnel and documented procedures.
- Timeline
- Months, carrying a heavy documentation and examination burden.
- Banking access
- Improves materially — regulated securities status unlocks institutional counterparties.
- Reputational cost
- Highest — regulated status is what opens institutional doors.
Common questions
What clients ask first
The questions that decide more engagements than any fee table.
It follows from your model and your market, not the other way round. Where your customers are determines the regulatory perimeter; the perimeter determines the licence; the licence determines the entity, capital and compliance build. We work that sequence deliberately, because reversing it is what turns a licensing project into a rewrite.
Rarely, on its own. The cheapest authorisation frequently costs more in the end — through banks that will not onboard it, payment processors that decline it, or exchanges that will not list the token behind it. The comparison that matters is total cost to operating, not the filing fee.
Often, yes, and it is a legitimate strategy — but only if it is designed as one. The offshore entity should be built so a MiCA, U.S. or other regulated entity can be layered on later without dismantling the structure or the compliance programme underneath it.
It depends on the pathway, the completeness of the file and the regulator queue. We give a realistic range at the diagnostic stage and then manage the critical path. The largest single driver of total time is almost always an incomplete first submission and the query round that follows it.
Contact Blockrunner, LLC
Compare it against your model
Tell us what you are building and where your customers are. You will get a direct read on the pathways that actually fit — and the ones that do not.