EU's MiCA transition deadline sees flurry of crypto license approvals
European regulators granted a surge of cryptocurrency licenses to firms during the final days before the MiCA transitional framework expired.
European cryptocurrency firms received numerous licenses in a final rush as the transitional framework under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) concluded on Wednesday, prompting a wave of eleventh-hour authorizations.
Italy's financial authorities granted approval to four cryptocurrency businesses during the week, featuring Hodlie, an asset management platform, Young Platform's crypto exchange, the trading platform CryptoSmart, and crypto service provider Hercle. These additions brought Italy's authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs) count to eight total, as stated in a Tuesday statement from the Bank of Italy. The nation's central bank indicated that Consob, Italy's financial regulatory body, approved these licenses through coordinated efforts with the central bank.
France's financial markets regulatory authority, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), likewise granted authorization to three additional firms on Tuesday, featuring Mereau Finance, a crypto investment platform, Iceblock, which provides blockchain infrastructure, and crypto service provider Aplo. These approvals elevated France's total count of licensed CASPs to 31.
Meanwhile, in Malta, FalconX, a digital asset prime brokerage firm, disclosed on Monday its receipt of MiCA licensing, and Venga made an announcement on Wednesday regarding its CASP authorization obtained from Spanish authorities.
These authorizations came through during the closing days of MiCA's transitional window spanning 18 months, which reached its conclusion on Wednesday. The European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) interim register documented 244 authorized CASPs throughout the European Union and European Economic Area by Friday.
Largest MiCA-authorized exchanges emerge as transition ends
The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange measured by trading volume, Binance, continues to operate without MiCA licensing. While the exchange submitted an application for authorization within Greece, it subsequently retracted that application, announcing intentions to pursue authorization through a different member state.
Greece sits among the European Union member states that have not yet granted any MiCA licenses.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced on June 23 that cryptocurrency service providers failing to obtain authorization before the deadline must implement "immediate" measures to cease their European Union operations.
Given that Binance has not secured MiCA licensing, the most significant MiCA-authorized exchanges measured by spot orderbook liquidity comprise OKX, Coinbase, Bybit, Crypto.com, Gate and Bitstamp, based on data from DefiLlama.
