VASP
Virtual Asset Service ProviderCompliance
FATF-defined category covering crypto exchanges, wallets, and on-ramps. VASPs are subject to AML/CTF rules in most jurisdictions and require licensing under MiCA in the EU from December 2024. Acquirer underwriting of crypto merchants increasingly hinges on documented VASP-equivalent licensing.
In practice.
VASP is the regulatory label for crypto businesses in most jurisdictions, and a VASP registration or licence is the anchor document acquirers underwrite against in that vertical. Where you are registered shapes the acquirer pool at least as much as your volumes do.