Only 14 EU platforms licensed to trade under MiCA

On July 1, 2026, the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) transitional period expires. Any exchange, broker or wallet provider without a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) trading-platform license must stop operating in the EU.

The European Economic Area CASP register lists 183 firms with full MiCA authorization across 20 EEA states. Only 14 of those authorizations include the permission to operate a trading platform, the most demanding category under MiCA. Authorization for custody or transfer services is separate and does not allow order matching or market making. The conversion from prior VASP registrations to full MiCA authorizations is about 8%.

Licenses are concentrated: Germany has 53 authorized entities, the Netherlands 25, France 13 and Malta 12. Ten member states have issued no CASP authorizations: Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal and Romania. Estonia’s previous stock of VASP-registered firms largely left before MiCA took effect. Poland has not enacted domestic legislation to grant MiCA authorizations.

Platforms listed with trading-platform authorization include Coinbase (Ireland), Kraken (Ireland and Luxembourg), Binance (with an EU passport), OKX (Malta), Crypto.com (Malta), Bitstamp (Luxembourg), Bitpanda (Austria), Bitvavo (Netherlands) and Revolut. Platforms without that specific authorization will not be able to offer market access after July 1.

Stablecoins are affected. Tether did not apply for MiCA authorization and no MiCA-licensed platform currently lists USDT. Several major exchanges have blocked EU accounts from trading USDT. Among the top 10 stablecoins, Circle’s USDC and EURC meet MiCA compliance requirements.

Firms operating without authorization after July 1 face limited options: seek a MiCA license, stop operating in the EU, conduct an orderly wind-down, transfer clients to an authorized CASP, or merge with an authorized provider. France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers has warned that continued unauthorized operation beyond the deadline could lead to criminal prosecution. The estimated cost to obtain authorization ranges from €250,000 to €500,000.

Regulatory costs and the authorization gap have prompted exits and consolidation. Market participants report many smaller firms do not pursue full authorization. Germany is expected to see a notable reduction in local crypto services.

Crypto users should verify their platform against the official CASP register and move funds from platforms that lack trading-platform authorization before July 1. USDT holders may convert holdings to compliant stablecoins such as USDC or EURC or transfer USDT to non-EU services that still support it.

After July 1, only CASPs with the trading-platform authorization will be permitted to offer trading services in the EU.