TVTG — Liechtenstein's Blockchain Act and Its Narrowing Path to MiCAR

Liechtenstein's parliament unanimously passed the Token and TT Service Provider Act (TVTG) in October 2019; it entered into force on 1 January 2020. Independent legal sources, including the U.S. Library of Congress's Global Legal Monitor, describe it as the world's first comprehensive, technology-neutral framework law for the token economy, built around a 'Token Container Model' that lets almost any right be tokenized.

According to Chambers and Partners' Fintech 2026 practice guide, 29 entities held at least one TVTG registration as of November 2025, mostly offering token custody and exchange services.

From 1 July 2026, TVTG-regulated services may only be provided for crypto-assets outside the scope of the EU's MiCAR regulation (such as NFTs or fully decentralized protocols); the FMA has already begun issuing MiCAR authorisations directly, meaning most of the existing business is migrating to a separate EU-wide licence rather than remaining under the original national law.

For small jurisdictions competing to attract knowledge-economy firms through first-mover legal frameworks, this case is a useful caution: a modest company count after six years, and a law whose core business is now being absorbed by a larger regulatory bloc, show that being first to legislate does not guarantee lasting advantage.

Read the full analysis: https://practiceguides.chambers.com/practice-guides/fintech-2026/liechtenstein