MiCA in one minute
MiCA — Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation — is the first European law written specifically for crypto. One licence, issued by one national regulator, valid in all 27 EU member states through "passporting".
It covers the spot business: buying, selling, custody, transfers. Nothing else.
You will see it written both ways: MiCA licence in British English, MiCA license in American English, and MiCAR when people mean the regulation itself rather than the permission it grants. Same thing, and MiCA licensing works identically whichever spelling you searched for.
The deadline has passed. The last transition periods ended on 1 July 2026. An exchange serving EU customers without a licence today is not "unregulated" — it is operating illegally.
Think of MiCA as the driver's licence of European crypto: hard enough that not everyone passed, but still only the first exam. The harder one comes further down this page.
Who holds a licence
Every licensed provider appears in the public ESMA CASP register, which is updated weekly. Roughly 324 were authorised when the transition ended. Germany hosts the most (around 60), then France, the Netherlands, Malta, Cyprus and Austria.
Here is where the major exchanges stand — every row checked against the register and the granting regulator's own announcement on 31 July 2026.
The full list — licensed entity, supervisor and date — is on The MiCA timeline.
Nine of the thirteen — Bitvavo, Finst, Kraken, Coinbase, Bitstamp, OKX, Crypto.com, Bybit and Backpack — are in our cost comparison. A licence gets an exchange through the door; the comparison is where the price differences show.
Want to verify a claim yourself? Download the CASP list from the ESMA register and search for the legal entity, not the brand — Kraken trades as Payward Europe Solutions, Crypto.com as Foris DAX MT. If an exchange says it is licensed and you cannot find the entity in the register, ask the exchange which entity holds the licence. A straight answer takes them one sentence.
The big names that are missing
The more interesting list. Six household names, six different reasons:
- Binance — failed to get one. The world's largest exchange withdrew its only MiCA application, filed in Greece, on 24 June 2026 and halted its EEA services when the transition ended a week later. It says it will re-apply.
- Bitget — still waiting. Its Vienna entity filed a MiCA application with Austria's FMA on 17 June 2026. An application is not a licence: until the FMA decides, Bitget is not authorised. It is the only name here with the door visibly ajar.
- KuCoin — licensed, then stopped at the door. The odd one out: it is in the register (FMA, Austria, 27 November 2025), yet may not open. Per the FMA's most recent statement (May 2026), commencement of business operations remains prohibited. A licence on paper, no exchange in practice.
- MEXC — never applied. No licence, no filed application, and three regulators on record: an AFM warning (24 September 2025), an enforcement action by the Seychelles FSA (26 May 2026) and a fine from Dubai's VARA (22 June 2026). It kept onboarding EU users past the 1 July deadline regardless.
- Bitfinex — chose a different flag. No EU application; it completed a full licence set in El Salvador instead, the latest granted on 12 May 2026. EU sign-ups remained open in July 2026.
- HTX — sanctioned. No longer a licensing question: the EU placed HTX on its sanctions list on 23 July 2026, and EU persons may not transact with it from 23 August 2026. We track this on the closed exchanges page.
Several of these names have history in the Netherlands — see which exchanges the Dutch central bank fined under the old registration regime.
Continue reading the article
The exam behind the exam: MiFID II
MiCA was written for crypto, and it shows: the whole regime is a few years old. MiFID II is the opposite. It has governed Europe's traditional financial markets for years — the same rulebook that sits behind every regulated broker and derivatives venue on the continent. It is longer, heavier and harder to get.
It matters here because everything beyond spot falls under it. Perpetual futures. Options. Tokenised stocks. An exchange offering those to EU customers needs a MiFID II authorisation on top of MiCA — we explain how that licence works separately.
The full stack:
| Licence | Covers | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| MiCA — the entry exam | Spot: buy, sell, custody, transfers. Written for crypto. | National (AFM, BaFin, MFSA, CySEC, etc.) |
| MiFID II — the real test | Perpetuals, options, derivatives, tokenised stocks. Predates crypto. | National (CySEC, ATVP, MFSA, BaFin) |
| PSD2 / EMI — the money layer | SEPA, fiat in and out, cards. | National (DNB, Latvijas Banka) |
Under MiCA: spot trading · custody · portfolio management · crypto advice · transfers · certain stablecoins (ART, EMT).
Not under MiCA: perpetuals and derivatives · tokenised stocks · fiat payments and SEPA · unique NFTs · DeFi without a central entity.
An exchange that wants to offer the full range needs all three licences. Our capital-efficiency explainer shows why that combination pays off for you as a trader.
What a licence buys you
- Segregated funds. Your money and crypto are held apart from the exchange's own assets.
- A supervisor that can step in. In the Netherlands: the AFM.
- Capital, transparency and cybersecurity rules — checked, not promised.
- Cleaner taxes. Many EU tax authorities accept records from licensed exchanges without questions.
- External audits. The better ones also publish proof of reserves.
Life without a licence
Since 1 July 2026 every unlicensed exchange has had to pick a lane. All four are visible in the wild:
- Apply anyway. Bitget filed in Austria in June 2026 and waits. KuCoin shows how slow this road can be: licensed in November 2025, it still may not open its doors.
- Leave. Binance halted EEA services after its application failed; Gemini left with a licence in hand, purely as a business decision.
- Carry on regardless. MEXC and Bitfinex remained reachable from the EU after the deadline. Reachable is not the same as licensed: trade there and you stand outside every protection MiCA built.
- Lean on "reverse solicitation". The exemption exists — if you approach an exchange entirely on your own initiative, it may serve you. But ESMA calls the exemption "very narrowly framed" and warns it cannot be used to circumvent MiCA (ESMA guidelines, December 2024).
Every exit, wind-down and withdrawal deadline is tracked on our closed exchanges overview.
A MiCA licence is the EU entry ticket for a crypto exchange: spot trading, custody and transfers, valid in all 27 member states at once.
Frequently asked questions
Is MiCA the same as MiCAR?
Yes, MiCA and MiCAR (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) refer to the same EU regulation.
Can I still trade on an exchange without MiCA?
Sometimes. The reverse-solicitation exemption only applies when you approach the exchange entirely on your own initiative, and ESMA frames it very narrowly. You also give up EU legal protection and may face tax complications.
Does MiCA mean my crypto is insured?
No. MiCA does not require deposit insurance like banks have. It does require segregation of client funds.
Will I pay more at a MiCA-licensed exchange?
Not necessarily. See our cost comparison for actual price differences.
Which exchanges already hold a MiCA licence?
Roughly 324 providers were authorised when the transition ended on 1 July 2026, including Bitvavo, Finst, Kraken, Coinbase, Bitstamp, OKX, Crypto.com, Bitpanda, eToro, Bybit and Backpack. The table above lists the supervisor, country and licence date for each.
Who grants a MiCA licence?
The financial regulator of the member state where the provider is established: the AFM in the Netherlands, BaFin in Germany, the MFSA in Malta, CySEC in Cyprus, the CSSF in Luxembourg, the Central Bank of Ireland and Latvijas Banka in Latvia, among others. Once granted, the licence is passported to all 27 member states.
What is MiCA, exactly?
MiCA is EU regulation 2023/1114, the first European law written specifically for crypto. It has applied to crypto-asset service providers since 30 December 2024 and replaces the national registers. One licence is enough: passporting makes it valid in all 30 EEA countries.
What are the requirements for a MiCA licence?
A minimum capital per service class: €50,000, €125,000 or €150,000. On top of that, fit-and-proper testing of directors, segregation of client assets, a complaints procedure and ICT resilience under DORA. Issuers of crypto-assets must also publish a white paper.
What does a MiCA licence cost?
That differs per member state: every regulator publishes its own fees for the application and for ongoing supervision. The real cost is not that fee but the compliance staff and the capital you have to hold. There is no single figure that applies everywhere.
How long does a MiCA application take?
The regulation gives the supervisor 25 working days to check whether the file is complete, and then 40 working days to decide. In practice it has taken longer, because applications piled up.
MiFID II licenceThe rules for derivatives and tokenised stocks.
PSD2 and EMIThe licences behind fiat and SEPA payments.
Proof of ReservesHow exchanges prove they hold your funds.The MiCA timelineWho got into the register, and when.Who holds MiFID II?The short list for perpetuals and stocks.Licences worldwideWhat a licence is worth per country.