In short
- We work with BTC, ETH and USDC. Whether a particular asset is acceptable in a particular deal is confirmed by the authorised provider handling the regulated leg.
- BTC and ETH are not stablecoins, no issuer-authorisation requirement applies to them, and an authorised provider can service them.
- Stablecoins are more complicated. MiCA splits them into e-money tokens (EMTs) and asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and requires the issuer to be authorised.
- USDT holds no MiCA authorisation. An individual in the EU may lawfully hold and transfer it, but an authorised venue cannot provide services in it to EU clients. USDC, issued by Circle's European entity, is authorised.
- The rate is fixed at the moment of conversion, not when the CPCV is signed. The gap between those dates is your risk, and it has to be built into the deal.
Why the list is short
Three assets — BTC, ETH and USDC — are what the regulated leg of a deal can be done with in the EU. Even within that list, the decision is made on the specific asset and its history.
"Which cryptocurrencies do you accept" is a reasonable question, but the answer does not come from the property seller or the agency. The regulated leg is carried out by an authorised crypto-asset service provider, and it is their licence, their risk policy and their technical capability that determine which asset passes.
One provider's list is wider, another's narrower. The same provider will take an asset with a long transparent history and refuse an identical asset with a murky one. So the honest answer is that a suitable asset is determined after review, not before.
Some things, though, are known in advance and do not depend on the provider.
BTC and ETH
Under MiCA, bitcoin and ether are neither e-money tokens nor asset-referenced tokens. No issuer-authorisation requirement applies — they have no issuer. An authorised provider can service them.
In practice these are the most predictable assets for this kind of deal. The difficulty with them is usually not regulatory but documentary: the older the asset and the longer the path between wallets, the more questions about origin.
Stablecoins: where it diverges
MiCA places stablecoins in two categories — e-money tokens (EMTs) and asset-referenced tokens (ARTs). Their rules have applied since 30 June 2024 and require the issuer to be authorised.
USDC. Issued by Circle's European entity and authorised as an EMT. An authorised provider normally has no problem with it. USDT. Holds no MiCA authorisation. Article 88 of the Regulation prohibits offering e-money tokens to the public unless the issuer is authorised, and Title V, applicable from 30 December 2024, prohibits crypto-asset service providers from offering services in non-authorised EMTs to public customers. Major European venues restricted USDT trading pairs for EEA users accordingly — Binance, for example, from 31 March 2025.Two different statements must not be conflated here. ESMA clarified in January 2025 that custody and transfer of non-compliant stablecoins do not themselves constitute an offering to the public. So holding USDT, moving it from your own wallet and using decentralised protocols remains lawful for an individual in the EU. The restriction is not on you; it is on regulated venues, which cannot provide you with services in it.
For a property purchase that distinction is decisive. The exchange service at an authorised provider is precisely the step the deal needs. If your capital sits in USDT, the transaction has to be planned around that constraint, not on the assumption that "USDT is accepted everywhere".
Euro stablecoins. EURC and other tokens issued by authorised European issuers are compliant. For a euro-denominated deal these can be more convenient than dollar ones: the currency pair disappears.Who carries the rate risk
Several weeks to a couple of months pass between signing the CPCV and final settlement. The price in the contract is fixed in euro. The value of your assets over that period is fixed by nothing.
The rate is set at the moment of conversion, not when the promissory contract is signed. If the asset falls in the meantime, the missing euros have to come from somewhere — and that is your problem, not the seller's.
Practical ways to reduce it:
- move the required portion into a stablecoin early rather than holding everything volatile until the last day;
- budget a margin above the calculated amount;
- agree realistic deadlines in the CPCV rather than the shortest possible ones;
- discuss the timing and mechanics of conversion with the provider before signing, not after.
Nobody can guarantee you a specific rate on a future date. If someone does, read carefully what backs that guarantee.
What conversion actually costs
It is not free, and the cost has several parts: the provider's fee, the spread between buy and sell rates, network fees on transfers, and sometimes deposit and withdrawal charges. The spread is usually larger than the headline fee, and it is the part most often left out of marketing material.
Compare providers on the final euro amount that lands, not on the percentage fee.
The network matters too
The same token exists on different chains. USDC on Ethereum and USDC on another chain are, for transfer purposes, different routes with different costs, different speeds and different provider support. Confirm the network before you send: funds sent on an unsupported chain take a long time to recover, and sometimes cannot be recovered at all.
What we do not promise
- accepting any crypto-asset;
- working with any wallet or any network;
- a specific conversion rate or a specific cost;
- locking a rate to the closing date;
- that an asset which worked for one client will work for another.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), Article 88 and Title V
- ESMA — Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation
- Banco de Portugal — CASP authorisation
- Lei n.º 69/2025 of 22 December 2025 — MiCA implementation in Portugal