Serbia is not the only Western Balkan country where crypto business is discussed, but it is the country where the discussion is about a real licensing regime: the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) has been issuing licences for virtual-currency services since 2021, and compared with the record-based models of its neighbours this is a full licensing system. That contrast shapes this page: where some countries in the region sell what is merely an entry in a list under the name of a "licence", in Serbia a licence is a licence — granted by decision, with conditions and with ongoing supervision.
We tell you honestly, up front, what is not in our official material: the licence fee amount and the statutory processing time are not fixed in the sources this page is built on — both are to be confirmed with the regulator, and we do not print unofficial numbers. Nor do we invent capital thresholds. What is confirmed — the legal basis, the shape of the process, the logic of NBS screening and the public register — is detailed below.
The Legal Basis: the Digital Assets Law and the NBS Decision
The regime rests on two acts: the Law on Digital Assets (Serbian Official Gazette 153/2020) and the NBS Decision on issuing the licence for virtual-currency services (Official Gazette 49/2021). On this basis the NBS issues a licence (dozvola) for services connected with virtual currencies. An important boundary exists as well: services around digital tokens that are not virtual currency fall to the Serbian Securities Commission — so the exact classification of your business model decides which regulator your route runs to, and that classification is the first item of analysis.
The Licensing Process and What the NBS Checks
The NBS regime works along three tracks. First, the licence itself for virtual-currency services: the application goes to the NBS and must be granted before the service starts. Second, consents for people: the NBS issues consents for the appointment of management members and directors, and also for acquirers of a qualifying holding — meaning that even a change of shareholders stays under the regulator's control. Third, the functional analysis: the licence is tied to what service you will actually provide and into which category the business falls.
The assessment logic carries a pronounced AML filter: the NBS requires and screens the origins of the application — where the capital comes from and what provenance the funds have; any trace of offshore or high-risk countries in the application raises a separate flag. For a Georgian-owned group this means the documentation of sources — bank references, salary or sale history, the structure of the group — must be in order before filing; otherwise exactly this block becomes the main risk to timelines and to the outcome. As for the fee and the calendar, both are to be confirmed with the regulator, and in each case we establish the current terms directly with the NBS before filing.