After July 1, unlicensed platforms in Europe will be cleared.

Written by: KarenZ, Foresight News

After July 1, whether the app can still be opened for cryptocurrency in Europe is only a superficial signal. The more critical issue lies in the account terms: which legal entity is providing the service, and whether it has obtained MiCA authorization.

MiCA, which stands for Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, is a unified regulatory framework established by the EU for the cryptocurrency market, covering services such as stablecoin issuance, public offerings of crypto assets, trading platforms, custodianship, exchange, order execution, and advisory.

The core change is transitioning the previously fragmented VASP registration and anti-money laundering regulation in various member states to a unified access rule at the EU level. In the official MiCA document, authorized entities are referred to as CASP (Crypto-Asset Service Provider), which means "crypto asset service provider".

MiCA officially came into effect on June 29, 2023; rules related to ART and EMT, specifically asset-referenced tokens and electronic money tokens, will apply starting June 30, 2024; CASP rules for crypto asset service providers will take effect on December 30, 2024.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) clearly reminded in a statement on April 17, 2026, that the transitional arrangements for all member states will end no later than July 1, 2026. After that, any entity that continues to provide crypto asset services to EU clients without MiCA authorization will be in violation of EU law and must cease those services.

This is also the backdrop for Binance's sudden statement on June 16. Reuters reported on June 16, citing two insiders, that Binance's application submitted to Greek market regulators is expected to be rejected.

Subsequently, Binance responded on June 16, stating that it has been in constructive communication with regulators for the past 18 months and expressed its understanding as: "The Greek regulator has completed its review of the application, determined that it meets MiCA requirements, and that the application has also been reviewed at the ESMA level." What European users truly need to wait for is Binance's further arrangements promised before June 30, 2026, as well as the final status of the official list of authorized entities after July 1.

From 3,167 old VASPs to 216 CASP records

In the past, the entry into the European crypto market was quite broad. Coincub's Europe Crypto Report 2025 shows that by the end of 2024, there are over 3,167 virtual asset service providers in Europe, with the report using terms like CASP, VASP, or DASP interchangeably, referring to crypto service entities under national registration frameworks before MiCA.

By country, Poland has over 1,400 entities, accounting for at least about 44.2% of the total in Europe; Lithuania has over 530, accounting for at least about 16.7%. These two registration-friendly jurisdictions combined account for at least 1,930 entities, about 61% of the old VASP scale in Europe. Italy has 150, accounting for about 4.7%; Spain has 106, about 3.3%; France has 104, about 3.3%. Germany has 11, Austria has 12, and Belgium has 8, totaling less than 1% between the three.

MiCA rewrites the access logic. The 3,167 entities counted by Coincub fall within the scale of service providers under the original VASP registration framework in various member states before MiCA.

In the "provisional MiCA register" downloaded from the ESMA official website (data updated June 12), there are 216 CASP records. The numbers 3,167 and 216 cannot simply be subtracted: the former represents the old registration scale, while the latter represents the legal entity records that have entered the authorized registration under MiCA, with different regulatory requirements, statistical scopes, and legal significances.

Among the 216 CASP records, Germany has the most with 55 records; the Netherlands has 26, France has 19, and Malta has 15; Cyprus and Ireland each have 12 records, Austria has 9, and Spain, the Czech Republic, and Luxembourg each have 7 records.

By service type, CASP authorization is not a single license, but a set of specific service permissions. Among the 216 records, 147 include custody and management of crypto assets services, 131 include crypto asset transfer services, 113 include crypto assets to fiat currency exchange, 97 include crypto-to-crypto exchange, and 114 include order execution services. Additionally, 15 records include qualifications for operating crypto asset trading platform services.

There is business overlap among these services: exchange, order execution, receiving, and transmitting orders will all appear in what users understand as the "trading" process; while "operating a trading platform" in a regulatory context leans more towards matching or platform infrastructure permissions. Therefore, under MiCA, competitors are no longer just exchange brands, but the specific legal entities registered in the EU registry. Brand recognition remains important, but the ability to continue serving the European market ultimately depends on whether these entities are authorized, approved for which services, and which member states they cover.

Furthermore, MiCA licenses are registered by specific legal entities. One brand may correspond to multiple entities; for example, Kraken has two records in Ireland for Payward Global Solutions Limited and Payward Europe Solutions Limited; Bitpanda appears under entities in Austria, Germany, and Malta. Therefore, seeing a brand name is not enough; one must also check the actual company name providing the service in the account terms.

It is worth mentioning that the European Securities and Markets Authority also disclosed a list of non-compliant entities or warning entities, with 147 out of 149 records coming from the Italian National Company and Securities Commission (CONSOB), and one each from the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets (AFM) and Slovakia's NBS. This statistic reflects the regulatory affiliation or member state marking of the records, not necessarily the entity's registered location.

The entry by the Dutch AFM regarding MEXC Global states that MEXC provided crypto asset services in the Netherlands without obtaining the necessary MiCA license.

This indicates that the execution of MiCA has progressed to the regulatory identification stage of "who got the license" and "who is still providing services without a license."

Which platforms or institutions have appeared in the provisional MiCA CASP register list?

According to the ESMA page explanation, this provisional register will be updated regularly until it is officially integrated into ESMA's IT system in mid-2026.

From the perspective of market roles, the subjects in the ESMA "Provisional MiCA CASP Register" can generally be divided into several categories. The first category is global crypto exchanges, which typically enter the register through local EU entities.

For instance, Coinbase Luxembourg S.A., Payward Europe Solutions Limited / Payward Global Solutions Limited (Kraken-related entities), OKX Europe Limited, Foris DAX MT Limited (Crypto.com-related entities), Bybit EU GmbH, KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH, Gate Technology Limited, Gemini Intergalactic EU Ltd, and Bitstamp Europe S.A. as well as Backpack EU corresponding to "Trek Technologies" SIA. Most of these entities obtain authorization through member states like Luxembourg, Ireland, Malta, and Austria, and then extend to more European markets. Additionally, the stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK has also obtained a CASP license under the MiCA framework issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority MFSA; however

The second category is European local or regional platforms, such as Bitpanda, Bitvavo, Bit2Me, Coinhouse, Coinmate, 21bitcoin, ZBX, and One Trading. Their global presence cannot be compared with large exchanges, but they have a realistic advantage in the context of MiCA: the business entity, regulatory affiliation, and service pathways for European clients are more easily aligned with local legal entities.

The third category includes traditional financial institutions, brokers/investment platforms, professional custodians, stablecoin infrastructure, etc., such as BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria), Revolut, Trade Republic, Robinhood Europe, eToro, N26, AMINA, and Zodia, which focuses on crypto custody. Additionally, the stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK has also obtained a CASP license under the MiCA framework issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority MFSA.

The ways in which they enter the CASP list differ: banks and brokers revolve more around customer entry, order transmission, order execution, or investment services; institutions like Zodia focus more on crypto asset custody and transfer services. Their emergence indicates that under MiCA, the competitors are not limited to exchanges; traditional finance and professional infrastructure service providers are also entering the same access framework.

This observation must consider service permissions, rather than just viewing whether a brand appears. For example, records of OKX Europe Limited, Gate Technology Limited, Bitstamp Europe S.A., Bitvavo B.V., One Trading Exchange B.V. include services for operating crypto asset trading platforms; whereas entities like Coinbase, Crypto.com, Bybit, KuCoin, Gemini, and Backpack EU focus more on a combination of custody, exchange, order execution, and transfer services covering user trading processes. In other words, the "exchange business" as understood by users in the MiCA framework will be broken down into multiple service permissions, and cannot be judged solely by one field to determine what the platform is allowed to do.

At the same time, Binance, Bitget, MEXC, HTX/Huobi, and Bitfinex have not appeared in this provisional MiCA CASP register under these brands or related names. Of course, this just means that no corresponding CASP authorization records were found in this version of the provisional register as of ESMA, and it does not exclude the possibility that some platforms are applying through other entities, adjusting their service ranges, or later being updated in the list.

Asset-referenced tokens and electronic money tokens are also key points of MiCA

In addition to CASP authorization, the compliance of ART/EMT is also a key part of MiCA.

ART, or asset-referenced tokens, are typically pegged to a basket of currencies, commodities, crypto assets, or other assets; EMT, or electronic money tokens, are usually pegged to a single fiat currency, closer to electronic money in the EU regulatory context.

The former pertains to asset reserves, redemption arrangements, and systemic risks, while the latter directly touches payment, stablecoins, and monetary sovereignty, which is why they are listed separately in MiCA.

This also explains why the ESMA provisional MiCA register needs to separate ART issuers and EMT issuers into distinct tables. However, the ART issuers' table currently does not show ART issuer entries; the EMT issuers' table has 40 records related to the issuance of electronic money tokens, involving entities such as Payment Corporation SE (Stable Labs), Circle Internet Financial Europe, Société Générale - Forge, AllUnity, Paxos Issuance Europe, Monerium, Banking Circle, StablR, etc.

Conclusion

The ESMA 2025 annual report can also explain this change. The annual report mentions that in 2025, ESMA completed several key tasks under the MiCA framework, including issuing guidelines on whether crypto assets constitute financial instruments, unifying CASP employee competency standards, providing briefings on CASP authorization to national regulatory authorities, and promoting regulatory convergence through case discussions. ESMA also maintained the provisional register of crypto entities and prepared to integrate into the final IT plan for the European Single Access Point (ESAP).

More importantly, ESMA has connected crypto regulation with data regulation. The annual report states that in 2025, ESMA procured an EU-level crypto market monitoring tool, enabling ESMA and national regulatory authorities to collect on-chain and off-chain data under the MiCA framework and generate shared alerts. This means that post-MiCA, regulatory focus will not only rest on "who got the license," but will extend to trading monitoring, market abuse identification, on-chain data tracking, and cross-border regulatory collaboration.

The MiCA cutoff on July 1 serves more as a dividing line between the transitional and enforcement periods of European crypto regulation. The authorized list, white paper disclosure form, issuer registration, non-compliant entity list, as well as on-chain and off-chain monitoring tools, collectively form a new regulatory infrastructure.

For exchanges and institutions, the competitive variables in the European market are changing. User scale and brand recognition remain important, but the ability to continue engaging in European business depends on more specific regulatory coordinates: which legal entity is authorized, which services are permitted, which member states are covered, and whether the assets supported by the platform enter the corresponding MiCA disclosure or issuance framework.