Blockchain.com secures conditional Cayman VASP custody licence

Blockchain.com has secured a conditional Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licence from the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA). The company announced it on its blog, alongside plans to open an office in Camana Bay and hire its first on-island employee, partnering with local group TechCayman.

“The Cayman Islands has established itself as a forward-thinking jurisdiction for digital asset innovation. Alongside TechCayman, we are proud to establish a physical presence and begin building a team to help shape a sustainable, regulated, and long-term future for crypto.”

— Lane Kasselman, Co-CEO, Blockchain.com

The licence covers both custody and trading-platform services — a requirement in the Cayman Islands since April 2025 for any company offering those services in or from the islands. It's Blockchain.com's third major regulatory milestone in under a year: in October 2025 the exchange secured a MiCA licence from Malta's MFSA, granting access to the entire European Economic Area under a single authorization, followed by FCA registration in the UK in February 2026 under its BC Operations entity.

• The licence is conditional VASP status, covering custody and trading services
• MiCA from Malta's MFSA landed in October 2025, unlocking the whole EEA under one licence
• UK FCA registration followed in February 2026, filed under the BC Operations entity

Working through regulators one jurisdiction at a time, rather than betting on a single market, is a pattern other large platforms are following too: Robinhood squeezed in its own FCA registration just before UK rules tightened, while MiCA itself has already split Europe's crypto market into licensed survivors and those who walked away, within weeks of coming into full force.

This piece is informational, not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset.