Last-minute licenses were issued to cryptocurrency companies in Europe as Wednesday marked the end of the transition period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Four companies were authorized in Italy this week, including asset management platform Hoadly, crypto exchange Young Platform, trading platform CryptoSmart and crypto service provider Herkel, bringing Italy’s total to eight authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs), according to Tuesday. Announcement From the Bank of Italy. The central bank said the country’s financial regulator, Consob, approved the licenses in conjunction with it.
Also the French financial markets regulator, the Autorité des marchés Financiers (AMF). added Three new companies on Tuesday, including crypto investment platform Mero Finance, blockchain infrastructure provider IceBlock and crypto service provider Apollo, brought the total number of licensed CASPs to 31.
In Malta, digital asset prime broker FalconX announced on Monday that it had received a MiCA license, while Venga announced on Wednesday that it had received a CASP permit from Spain.
The licenses were issued during the last part of MICA’s 18-month transition period, which ended on Wednesday. As of Friday, the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) provisional register showed 244 authorized CASPs in the European Union and European Economic Area.
France’s whitelist includes newly licensed CASPs. Source: AMF
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The largest MICA-authorized exchanges come up with the end of the transition.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume, remains unlicensed under MiCA. The exchange applied for authorization in Greece but later withdrew its application, saying it would seek authorization in another member state.
Greece is among the EU member states that have not yet issued a MiCA license.
On June 23, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said Crypto service providers that remain unauthorized by the deadline must take “immediate” steps to wind down their EU activities.
With Binance remaining unlicensed under MiCA, the largest MiCA-authorized exchanges by spot order book liquidity include OKX, Coinbase, Bybit, Crypto.com, Gate and Bitstamp, according to DefiLlama data.
Cryptocurrency exchanges regulated by MiCA in Europe. Source: DefiLlama
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