Digital Wallets as Regulatory Interfaces: Payment Wallets, Identity Wallets, and Crypto-Asset Wallets

Michał Grabowski

doi:10.4467/22996834FLR.26.006.24197

Authors

Michał Grabowski University of Warsaw https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1386-2991

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4467/22996834FLR.26.006.24197

Keywords:

digital wallet, pass-through wallet, staged wallet, PSD2, PSR, PSD3, eIDAS, EUDI Wallet, MiCA, outsourcing

Abstract

In market practice, the term ‘digital wallet’ covers solutions with different legal functions. It may denote a container for tokenised payment credentials, a stored-value wallet holding funds, an identity wallet, or a crypto-asset wallet. In the future, it may also serve as an access point for central bank digital currency, notably the digital euro. PSD2 contains no horizontal definition of the digital wallet. Its legal classification therefore depends on the function performed. This article develops a regime-based typology of digital wallets under EU law. It distinguishes pass-through credential wallets, staged wallets combining funding and payment functions, crypto-asset wallets assessed under MiCA, and identity wallets governed by eIDAS and the European Digital Identity Framework. It also examines the emerging link between identity and payments in the context of the proposed Digital Euro Regulation, including interoperability between digital euro front-end services and EUDI Wallets. The article maps licensing requirements, outsourcing structures, including under DORA, and the boundary between technical services and regulated AIS/PIS. It argues de lege ferenda for a more coherent functional taxonomy of digital wallets, clearer criteria for distinguishing technical interfaces from regulated payment services, and greater consistency between EU payment law, crypto-asset regulation, digital identity law, and the future digital euro framework.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Baldini, D.: The Impact of the Right to Personal Data Protection on the Design of the European Digital Identity Wallet, Italian Journal of Public Law, No 1, Vol. 16, 2024.

Bairros, R. P.: The Licensing Principle and Innovation in Payments, in D. Moura Vicente, D. Pereira Duarte and C. Granadeiro (eds), Fintech Regulation and the Licensing Principle, European Banking Institute, 2023.

Berkun, J.: Why Self-Custody Wallet Platforms Are Not Brokers Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Business & Finance Law Review Essays, Vol. 8, 2025.

Carrillo, R.: Seeing Through Money: Democracy, Data Governance, and the Digital Dollar, Georgia Law Review, No 3, Vol. 57, 2023.

Cavagnoli Micali, G.: When Organised Crime Turns to Cryptocurrency: The Compatibility of Italian Patrimonial Preventive Measures with Cryptocurrency, European Journal of Law and Technology, No 3, Vol. 15, 2024.

Ciach, S., Prokopowicz, K.: Selected issues related to crypto-asset custody services in light of Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, Safe Bank, No 2, Vol. 99, 2025.

Górka, J.: Finanse cyfrowe: tesserakt [Digital finance: tesseract], Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego [University of Warsaw Publishing House]: Warszawa, 2025.

Júnior, D. L. and Lopes, E. L.: Defining a Super App and Analyzing It from an Ecosystemic Perspective. Available at: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4542297/v1, accessed: 11th March 2026.

Kohlbach, M.: Making Sense of Electronic Money, Journal of Information, Law and Technology (JILT), No 1, 2004.

Roman-Jakob, S., Vieira, J. and James, E.: Bytes & Pieces: Reflections on Digital Identity, La Revue des Juristes de Sciences Po (Sciences Po Law Review), No 25, 2024.

Schwarz, N. et al.: Virtual Assets and Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (1): Some Legal and Practical Considerations, FinTech Notes 2021, vol. 1, no. 2.

Stolarski, K.: The area of the interplay of crypto-asset and payment services in EU law, Safe Bank, No 2, Vol. 99, 2025.

Tu, K. V.: Perfecting Bitcoin, Georgia Law Review, No 2, Vol. 52, 2018.

Veerpalu, A.: Shareholder Ledger Using Distributed Ledger Technology: The Estonian Perspective, Masaryk University Journal of Law and Technology, No 2, Vol. 13, 2019.

Vezzoso, S.: ‘Super-apps’ and the Digital Markets Act, Journal of Antitrust Enforcement, No 2, Vol. 12, 2024.

Zetzsche, D. A., Sinnig, J. and Nikolakopoulou, A.: Crypto custody, Capital Markets Law Journal, No 3, Vol. 19, 2024, pp. 207–228.

Legal Acts

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/389 of 27 November 2017 supplementing Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to regulatory technical standards for strong customer authentication and common and secure open standards of communication, OJ L 69.

Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on the taking up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions amending Directives 2005/60/EC and 2006/48/EC and repealing Directive 2000/46/EC, OJ L 267.

Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC, OJ L 257.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 and Directives 2013/36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937, OJ L 150.