- Over fifty crypto firms gained official EU authorization under the new MiCA rules.
- The approved stablecoins cover multiple fiat currencies, enhancing diversity in the EU market.
- Several prominent crypto platforms now hold licenses enabling EU-wide service provision.
The European Union has issued MiCA licenses to 53 crypto companies, allowing them to conduct activities across the 30 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) under a single regulatory regime.
These approvals consist of 14 stablecoin issuers and 39 crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), however, most significantly, they exclude such prominent players as Tether and Binance.
MiCA Licensing Milestone and Market Impact
MiCA regulation went into full effect on December 30, 2024. Six months later, the EU has allowed such companies to provide their services across the EU without the need to obtain local licenses. The development will promote the EU agenda of regulating the crypto sector and boosting consumer protection, transparency, and market integrity.
There are 20 fiat-based stablecoins issued by licensed issuers (Circle, Soci dacancaelli mixasi entiree-Forge, and Membrane Finance) primarily in the euro and dollar. Just one is benchmarked against the Czech koruna. The licenses indicate that the capital, governance, and disclosure requirements of MiCA have been met.
A number of firms, including Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, N26, OKX, Robinhood, Trade Republic, and BBVA, have been granted licenses to operate inside the CASP. Germany and the Netherlands give out the highest number of licenses, 12 and 11 firms, respectively. France, Germany, and the Netherlands also control the approval of stablecoin issuance.
Source – X
Patrick Hansen, EU Strategy & Policy Director at Circle, presented the most up-to-date data that proves the 53 approvals and emphasized the traction that MiCA is picking up within digital asset compliance in Europe.
Absence of Tether and Binance
The licenses for Tether and Binance are not included on the list of permitted licenses, despite the fact that MiCA licenses are frequently utilized. It is not licensed under MiCA to the biggest stablecoin, USDT, which is issued by Tether. This has caused it to be delisted on a number of EU exchanges such as Coinbase and Crypto.com.
Tether faces major obstacles due to MiCA’s requirement to hold at least 60% of reserves for major stablecoins in EU-based banks. Additionally, MiCA calls for full transparency through regular disclosures and audits, with which Tether has not been found compliant.
The most traded crypto exchange, Binance, also lacks on the list as it is still under regulatory pressure in Europe. The exchange recently hired Gillian Lynch as its head of Europe and the UK to enhance its compliance activities, yet it has not obtained MiCA approval to conduct business within the EU in a legal manner.
Their departure from these two giants casts doubts over their future in the European market as the enforcement of MiCA increases.
