MiCA is the European Union's attempt to put crypto-assets under one rulebook. It replaced a patchwork of national registrations with a single set of rules for token issuers and for the firms that run exchanges, custody and brokerage. Its last transitional deadline passed on July 1, 2026, which means a crypto business serving EU customers generally needs a MiCA authorization or must qualify for an exemption. This guide covers what the regulation does, how licensing works, who has been approved, and the rumor circulating that the industry shrank from 3,000 firms to 300.
MiCA at a glance
MiCA stands for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, officially Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. Because it is a regulation rather than a directive, it applies directly in all member states without national transposition. It does three main things: it sets rules for the issuers of certain tokens, it requires crypto-asset service providers (CASPs, explained below) to be authorized, and it lays down market-abuse and consumer-protection rules for crypto trading.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| June 2023 | MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, enters into force. |
| June 30, 2024 | Rules for stablecoin issuers begin to apply. |
| Dec. 30, 2024 | MiCA becomes fully applicable, including rules for crypto-asset service providers. A transitional period for existing firms starts. |
| July 1, 2026 | Final transitional period ends. Firms without a MiCA authorization must wind down or restrict EU services. |
| Aug. 31, 2026 | Comments close on the European Commission's consultation on reviewing MiCA, which opened May 20. |
| Oct. 8, 2026 | ESMA opinion: authorized platforms should stop services for non-compliant stablecoins. |
| Oct. 14, 2026 | The EBA classifies USDC as the first significant e-money token. |
| Oct. 30, 2026 | Coinbase's announced conversion date for restricted tokens held by EEA customers. |
| Nov. 12, 2026 | EBA takes over part of USDC supervision from France's ACPR. |
| Jan. 8, 2027 | Outer limit, as CoinDesk calculates it, for national authorities to resolve remaining non-compliant stablecoin exposure. |
Sources: ESMA MiCA page; Skadden (Dec. 30, 2024 full applicability, May 20 consultation); The Block (July 1, 2026); DLA Piper via Mondaq; EBA press release; CryptoSlate; CoinDesk via ChainBrief reporting. The June 30, 2024 stablecoin date is as described in ChainBrief's earlier MiCA comparison.
What is a CASP?
CASP stands for crypto-asset service provider. It is MiCA's legal label for a business that provides crypto services to customers as a professional activity, and it is the license an exchange, broker or custodian needs to serve people in the EU. It is specific to MiCA: you will not find it in U.S. law, and other jurisdictions use their own terms. Everyday words such as exchange, broker and custodian describe what a company does, while CASP is the category a regulator authorizes. The distinction matters because MiCA licenses by service. A firm is authorized for particular services, and it may provide only those.
| Service | In plain English | Minimum capital tier |
|---|---|---|
| Custody and administration | Safekeeping clients' crypto-assets, or the keys that control them. | EUR 125,000 |
| Exchange for funds | Buying crypto from clients or selling it to them for money. | EUR 125,000 |
| Exchange for other crypto-assets | Swapping one crypto-asset for another. | EUR 125,000 |
| Operating a trading platform | Running a system where buying and selling interests in crypto meet and match. | EUR 150,000 |
| Execution of orders | Carrying out a client's buy or sell orders on the client's behalf. | EUR 50,000 |
| Reception and transmission of orders | Taking a client's order and passing it to another firm to execute. | EUR 50,000 |
| Placing | Marketing crypto-assets to buyers on behalf of an issuer or seller. | EUR 50,000 |
| Advice | Giving a client a personalized recommendation about crypto-assets. | EUR 50,000 |
| Portfolio management | Managing a client's crypto portfolio on a discretionary basis. | EUR 50,000 |
| Transfer services | Moving crypto-assets from one address or account to another for a client. | EUR 50,000 |
Sources: service list and plain-English wording from CASP Tracker's summary of MiCA Article 3(1)(16); capital tiers from CASP Checklist's summary of Annex IV. We could not check either against the regulation's operative text. A firm in a tier also covers the services in lower tiers, and the requirement is the higher of the tier amount or a quarter of the previous year's fixed overheads.
Most firms offer several services at once. One tracker's tally of 384 providers put 255 in the EUR 125,000 tier, 107 in the lowest tier and only 22 in the EUR 150,000 tier that covers operating a trading platform, which suggests few firms run their own matching engine. The numbers are CASP Tracker's and differ slightly from the register counts later in this guide, because they were taken on a different date. Our glossary defines the term in short form.
CASP versus the other terms you will see
Crypto uses several overlapping words for the same kinds of firms, and readers often assume they are interchangeable. They are not. Some are legal categories and some are slang, and they come from different legal systems.
| Term | Where it is used | What it means | How it relates to a CASP |
|---|---|---|---|
| CASP | MiCA, EU law | A business authorized to provide one or more of the ten crypto services to customers. | The legal license category itself. |
| VASP (virtual asset service provider) | Global anti-money-laundering standards from the Financial Action Task Force, and national registers | A firm that exchanges, transfers, safekeeps or administers virtual assets, or provides related financial services. | The pre-MiCA national registrations were typically made under anti-money-laundering rules built on this idea. A VASP registration is not a MiCA authorization, though a firm can hold both. |
| Centralized exchange (CEX) | Industry slang | A company-run platform that holds customer funds and matches orders. | Not a legal term. In the EU, usually a CASP authorized for several services, such as custody, a trading platform and exchange. |
| Decentralized exchange (DEX) | Industry slang | Trading from your own wallet through smart contracts, with no company holding your funds. | MiCA excludes services provided in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary. A company that runs a front end or gateway is a harder question, which the Commission's review raises. |
| Custodian | General finance, and one MiCA service | A firm that holds assets for someone else and is responsible for safeguarding them. | Custody and administration is one of the ten CASP services. A firm can be authorized for custody alone. |
| Broker | General finance | A firm that buys, sells or routes orders for clients. | Maps to the order execution and order transmission services. MiCA does not use securities terms such as broker or exchange as license categories. |
| Wallet provider | Everyday speech | A company offering an app or device for holding crypto. | A custodial wallet, where the provider controls the keys, is custody. Software that only helps you manage your own keys is generally treated differently, but this is a grey area. |
| Money transmitter, broker-dealer, trust company | U.S. federal and state law | Separate license types that depend on what a firm does. | No single U.S. equivalent. A comparable firm may hold several of these at once. |
Sources: MiCA recitals (EUR-Lex); New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs summary of FATF guidance; Skadden; CASP Tracker; ChainBrief analysis for the last column. Definitions are simplified. For the U.S. side, see our guides to the FinCEN, SEC and OCC, and our comparison of trust charters, bank charters and state licenses.
What MiCA covers, and what it does not
The regulation sorts crypto-assets it covers into three groups. E-money tokens (EMTs) reference a single official currency, such as a euro or dollar stablecoin. Asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) reference other values or rights, including baskets or one or more currencies. A third group covers everything else, including utility tokens. Bitcoin and Ether fall in this third, lightest group as far as issuer rules go, though the firms that trade or hold them for customers are fully covered.
Several things sit outside it. Assets that already count as financial instruments stay under existing securities law, which is why the line between the two is one of the questions the Commission's review raises. According to the regulation's recitals, unique non-fungible tokens such as digital art and collectibles are excluded, though a large series or collection can be treated as a sign of fungibility. Services provided in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary are also excluded. And as Skadden notes, the regulation covers custodial staking as an ancillary service to custody, while pure staking without a custody transfer is currently unregulated.
Rules for token issuers
For tokens other than stablecoins, an issuer must publish a white paper and notify the national authority. The authority is not required to approve it before publication, according to the recitals, and offers to fewer than 150 people per member state or under EUR 1 million over 12 months are exempt.
Stablecoin issuers face the strictest regime. They need authorization, must hold reserves backing the token, must let holders redeem, and cannot pay interest on the token. We compare the structure in detail in GENIUS Act vs. MiCA. In practice, issuer authorizations are concentrated in e-money tokens. When ESMA's register was updated in mid-July it listed 21 unique EMT issuers and no approved ART issuers, as Cointelegraph reported, and Skadden notes the Commission asks whether the absence of ARTs reflects low interest or regulatory burden. Large tokens face extra scrutiny: on October 14 the European Banking Authority classified USDC as the first significant EMT of the 45 notified, and from November 12 it takes over supervision of its reserves, liquidity and redemption plans from France's ACPR. The ACPR keeps governance and other areas, so USDC will sit under dual supervision. For the platform-level fallout from the stablecoin rules, see our report on Coinbase's October 30 conversion and ESMA's three-month opinion.
Rules for exchanges, custodians and brokers
The firms most users deal with are CASPs, the crypto-asset service providers defined above. MiCA requires a CASP to be authorized in a member state, and that authorization can be passported, meaning the firm can serve customers across the EEA from its home base. Kraken, for example, holds an authorization through the Central Bank of Ireland that The Block describes as passportable across 30 countries. Authorization comes with capital requirements that scale with the services offered, as the table above shows.
There are two routes onto the register. Existing regulated institutions, such as banks and investment firms, can notify their regulator under Article 60 instead of applying for a full license. Crypto-native firms apply under Article 63. VASPnet, a compliance data provider, counted 158 notifications and 212 authorizations as of October 8, and found Germany accounts for 102 of the notifications, which reflects its many banks entering the market. Outside Germany, about four in five entries are full authorizations, it reports.
There is also an exemption for services provided at a customer's own initiative, commonly called reverse solicitation. Regulators have been clear it is narrow. ESMA told the Financial Times that it "should be understood as very narrowly framed," and the Dutch regulator AFM made a similar point, as Euronews reported.
Who supervises what
Day-to-day supervision belongs to national competent authorities, so a CASP's home regulator decides its authorization and handles most enforcement. ESMA runs the interim register, pushes for consistent supervision, and issues opinions such as the one on stablecoins. The EBA takes direct responsibility for parts of the largest tokens. Penalties are a national matter. ESMA told Euronews that supervision, investigation and enforcement under MiCA are national competences, so any fines would come from national authorities rather than ESMA.
How many firms are licensed
The numbers depend on the source and the date. The Block reported 244 authorized CASPs on ESMA's interim register in the week before July 1. Cointelegraph reported 294 on July 17, after ESMA added 37 on July 3 and 14 more on July 17. VASPnet counted 372 as of October 13, up from 257 at June 30. A tracker by Outrun Advisory, using a snapshot of the ESMA register on October 19, showed 377.
The country split is uneven. According to VASPnet, Germany had 105, France 36 and the Netherlands 30, while Hungary, Poland and Romania still had none, though they are served by passported firms from elsewhere. VASPnet also found 23 of CoinMarketCap's top 100 exchanges hold MiCA authorizations, including Crypto.com, Gate.io, Gemini and OKX through Malta. Coinbase's authorization is in Luxembourg, and Kraken's in Ireland. Kaiko told The Block that MiCA-licensed exchanges accounted for about 83% of European trading volume as of June 2026, which suggests most volume already sat with venues that went on to be licensed.
Rumor check: from 3,000 to 300?
The claim is directionally right and arithmetically loose. The "more than 3,000" figure comes from Trezor's chief commercial officer Danny Sanders in The Block's July 1 report, and describes firms operating under national regimes before MiCA. VASPnet put legacy registrations at 3,781 across 25 comparable jurisdictions and authorizations in those same places at 343, about a tenth, with Poland's 1,519 registrations producing none. The "300" figure is about three months old: the register was at 294 in mid-July and in the mid-370s in October.
It is also not a like-for-like comparison. Registrations were often light-touch, and one company could hold many. VASPnet notes Coinbase held 13 registrations under two legal entities and now has one MiCA authorization, and Bitpanda went from 10 to 3. The drop is therefore a mix of consolidation, exits and firms that never needed a license. VASPnet says it cannot state a single exit count. And the register is still growing, so a fixed number goes out of date within weeks.
Where Binance stands
Binance holds no MiCA authorization. The Block and Zyphe report that it withdrew its application with Greece's capital markets regulator in the final days of June, and Binance has said it is working toward authorization, with Zyphe reporting it plans to apply in another member state. Reports about what happened for customers conflict. Zyphe reports that new services were curtailed for EU users while withdrawals stayed open, whereas the Financial Times, as summarized by Euronews, reports that the user experience has not changed since July 1 and that Binance serves customers in countries where it lacks a local license through its Abu Dhabi entity under reverse solicitation. According to the FT, ESMA and regulators in France, Germany and Greece are examining that practice. Binance declined to address it directly and said it complies with applicable regulatory requirements. We could not confirm the discrepancy, so check Binance's own notices for your country.
What changes for users
The most visible effects are on services and stablecoins. Licensed platforms ask for more checks, may offer fewer products and, as the Coinbase conversion shows, may drop tokens whose issuers lack authorization. Sanders told The Block that users should expect regulated financial institutions, with more checks and less friction. Users of an unlicensed platform can move to a licensed one, withdraw, or use self-custody, and any conversion may have tax consequences that depend on the country. Our glossary defines CASP, stablecoin, custodian and self-hosted wallet.
What comes next
MiCA is already being reviewed. The Commission opened a consultation on May 20 that asks about stablecoin multi-issuance, a possible equivalence regime for third-country issuers, whether lending and borrowing should be regulated, how to treat DeFi and staking, and whether to simplify the rules, according to Skadden. ESMA's response, published September 30 and summarized by DLA Piper, asks to centralise white paper notification at ESMA, to tighten the DeFi exemption, to ban CASPs from servicing non-compliant stablecoins explicitly, and to consider ESMA becoming the direct supervisor of CASPs. Those are recommendations. The Commission decides whether to propose legislation, which would then need Parliament and Council agreement. The dates to watch are Coinbase's October 30 conversion, the EBA's November 12 takeover of USDC supervision, and January 8, 2027, the outer limit for the stablecoin wind-down.
Why it matters
MiCA is the largest attempt so far to regulate crypto through a single rulebook across many countries, and its first full year is showing what that costs and delivers: fewer, larger, more bank-like providers; a split between licensed and unlicensed exchanges; and a stablecoin market sorted by who holds an EU authorization. Whether that is a model or a warning depends on what the review changes and how national regulators enforce it. This is reporting, not legal, tax or investment advice.
Further reading
- EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA)
- The Block: Europe's MiCA crypto regime is fully in force: who wins and loses
- Cointelegraph: MiCA licensing slows as ESMA adds 14 new CASPs to its register
- Euronews: EU watchdogs question Binance over unlicensed European operations
- Skadden: Fit for purpose? European Commission launches review of MiCA
- DLA Piper via Mondaq: ESMA is calling to make MiCA clearer and safer
- Zyphe: Binance MiCA licence status
- CASP Tracker: the 10 MiCA crypto-asset services explained
- Outrun Advisory: MiCA CASP tracker
Frequently asked
What is a CASP?
CASP stands for crypto-asset service provider, MiCA's legal term for a business that provides crypto services to customers, such as holding crypto for clients, running a trading platform, exchanging crypto for money or other crypto, executing or routing orders, giving advice, managing portfolios or transferring crypto. A CASP must be authorized by a national regulator in the EU, and can then serve customers across the European Economic Area.
Is a CASP the same as a crypto exchange, a custodian or a VASP?
Not exactly. Exchange and custodian describe what a firm does, and custody and exchange are two of the ten services a CASP can be authorized for. A centralized exchange in the EU is usually a CASP authorized for several services. VASP is an older anti-money-laundering term used by the Financial Action Task Force and national registers, and a VASP registration is not a MiCA authorization.
What is MiCA in one sentence?
MiCA, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), is the European Union's single rulebook for crypto-assets not already covered by existing financial law. It sets rules for stablecoin issuers, other token issuers and the platforms that trade, hold or advise on crypto-assets.
Does MiCA ban Bitcoin or self-custody?
No. MiCA does not ban any crypto-asset or private holding. It regulates issuers and the firms that provide services to customers. Services provided in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary fall outside its scope, according to the regulation's recitals.
How do I know if a platform is MiCA-licensed?
ESMA, the EU securities regulator, publishes an interim MiCA register of authorized crypto-asset service providers, and also lists e-money token issuers and entities it treats as non-compliant. Check the legal entity that actually serves you, not just the brand name, because one brand can operate through several entities.
Is Binance MiCA-licensed?
No. As of late October 2026 reports say Binance holds no MiCA authorization. The Block and Zyphe report it withdrew its Greek application in late June, and Binance says it is working toward authorization. The Financial Times, via Euronews, reports regulators are examining how Binance serves EU customers without a local license, which Binance has not addressed in detail.
Did the number of crypto firms in Europe really fall from 3,000 to 300?
Roughly, but the comparison is loose. Trezor's chief commercial officer told The Block that more than 3,000 firms operated under national regimes before MiCA. The ESMA register stood near 294 in mid-July and was in the mid-370s in October. Registrations and authorizations are not like-for-like, since one company often held several registrations.
What happens to my crypto if my platform loses access to the EU market?
It depends on the platform. Providers set their own timelines and terms, and some offer withdrawal windows before restricting services. Withdrawing to a wallet you control is generally the most direct option, but check your platform's notices, and consider tax effects of any conversion in your country.