EU issues 244 MiCA licenses: Germany and France lead

The European Union has so far issued 244 MiCA licences to crypto companies, according to data from the ESMA register. Germany and France are far ahead, while several member states have not yet granted any licence. As of 1 July, crypto companies without a MiCA licence may no longer offer services within the EU.

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Germany and France dominate the MiCA rollout

According to figures from the ESMA register, surveyed on 29 June, the EU currently has 244 approved licences for so-called Crypto Asset Service Providers. Germany tops the list with 57 licences, followed by France with 26. Together they account for more than a third of the total number of licences issued.

Strikingly, five EU countries, namely Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania, have not yet issued a single MiCA licence. The distribution within the EU is therefore far from even, reports Bits.media. Major exchanges such as Coinbase and OKX are meanwhile trying to attract Binance users with special MiCA-related bonuses, as the market is realigning to the new rules.

Users complain about less choice and lower liquidity

Although MiCA is intended to make the crypto market more transparent and secure, critical voices are also being heard from the crypto community. Users argue that the stricter compliance requirements in practice lead to a narrower range of tradable assets and a decrease in liquidity on platforms active in Europe.

That crypto companies invest heavily in compliance is no surprise: Binance spends around $300 million annually on compliance. The 1 July deadline means that companies that do not yet have a MiCA licence must immediately cease their services in the EU. Whether the remaining countries will quickly catch up remains to be seen.