Only 7% of EU crypto firms held MiCA licences by July

About 210 firms had secured Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) licences by the July 1 deadline, equal to roughly 7–8% of the 2,747 virtual asset service provider (VASP) registrations recorded across the EU in 2024. That leaves about 2,537 providers operating without MiCA authorisation.

Industry trackers and supervisory records show the authorised group is small compared with last year’s registered market. One tracker put authorised crypto-asset service providers at about 183 in April 2026, while another updated that figure to roughly 210 by May. The 2024 VASP count was concentrated in a few countries; Poland accounted for more than 1,400 registrations.

MiCA requires firms that offer crypto services to meet standards on governance, prudential capital, cybersecurity, client protections and ongoing supervisory dialogue. Regulators and industry participants say those requirements create fixed costs that many smaller operators cannot absorb. Faustine Fleuret, head of public affairs at Morpho and former president of the French industry association ADAN, argued the rules apply equally to small startups and large groups and do not scale by size or risk: “A small startup and an international giant are treated the same way: there is no scaling of MiCA rules according to the size of the actor or the risks they pose.”

National examples show the effect. Estonia reported 641 licensed VASPs in June 2021, falling to 45 by October 2024 and to 40 by February 2025 as national withdrawals and tighter oversight took effect. In France, regulators reported that roughly 30% of about 90 unlicensed firms had applied for MiCA authorisation, about 40% indicated they did not intend to apply and 30% had not responded.

Firms that obtain licences report immediate business interest. Ignacio Santos, CEO of Madrid-based Fazil Crypto, reported strong inbound inquiries after his company received a Spanish crypto-asset service provider licence: “Since it was published that we had obtained authorisation, we have seen a huge amount of movement. We have been contacted by exchanges, payment companies, law firms, M&A advisers, entrepreneurs with crypto projects and also companies from outside Europe.”

Unlicensed entities have limited options after July 1: apply for a MiCA licence, cease operations, carry out an orderly wind-down, transfer clients to an authorised crypto-asset service provider, or merge with a licence-holder. French authorities warned in May that continuing to operate without authorisation could expose firms to criminal prosecution. Law firms tracking the transition anticipate a wave of consolidation in the second half of 2026 as smaller operators exit or combine with larger, authorised firms.

Early authorisation data recorded 39 CASP licences and 14 stablecoin issuer approvals among the first 54 authorisations in early 2026; the pace has increased since then but remains well below the legacy market of thousands of registered providers. Observers say the framework favors larger, well-capitalised players able to meet ongoing supervisory and capital demands. Market participants and trackers expect a smaller, more concentrated European crypto market by late 2026.