Crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider zerohash europe B.V. has received an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license from De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), the firm said on Monday.
The Amsterdam-based company, the European subsidiary of zerohash, says it is the first firm licensed under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) to obtain an EMI license under the European Banking Authority’s (EBA) guidance on electronic money token (EMT) payment flows.
zerohash already held a MiCAR license from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM), granted in October 2025. The EMI license adds a payment services layer that the EBA effectively made necessary for certain EMT-related activities.
Why both licenses matter
The EBA issued a No Action Letter in June 2025 addressing the overlap between MiCAR and the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2). It identified specific EMT activities that qualify as payment services under PSD2, including transfers of EMTs carried out on behalf of clients, custody and administration of EMTs, and custodial wallets that allow sending and receiving EMTs to third parties.
The EBA set a transition period ending 2 March 2026 for MiCAR-licensed firms to obtain a payment institution or EMI license for those activities. In February 2026, the EBA sharpened its expectations, stating that firms without an application in progress should cease EMT services qualifying as payment services and offboard affected customers. More than 100 crypto-asset service providers had approached national authorities about payment licensing since the No Action Letter was published, the EBA said.
“The announcement comes on the heels of accelerating momentum for zerohash across Europe. In recent months, the company has expanded its EU presence in Amsterdam and is now powering partners including Interactive Brokers Europe in the region,” said Roeland Goldberg, Managing Director, Europe at zerohash.
The dual-license setup allows zerohash to support stablecoin payment use cases for banks, brokerages, fintechs, and payment firms across the European Economic Area (EEA).
