Kraken Leads MiCA Exchanges in Liquidity and Market Coverage

Among MiCA-regulated crypto exchanges, Kraken stands head and shoulders above the rest. This is evident from new data from DefiLlama, which publishes an overview of exchanges operating under the European MiCA regulatory framework. Kraken scores highest on both spot liquidity and perpetual liquidity, and also has the most markets in its offering.

Kraken and Coinbase lead the pack

Kraken records a spot liquidity of $399.71 million and a perpetual liquidity of $206.90 million, both good for first place in the ranking. Coinbase follows in second position with $305.23 million and $167.39 million respectively. The difference between these two and the rest of the pack is remarkably large.

Crypto.com ranks third in terms of spot liquidity with $130.84 million, followed by Bitstamp ($54.62 million) and Bybit ($50.19 million). The exchanges OKX, Gate and Backpack bring up the rear with spot liquidity of $11.92 million, $6.94 million and $5.43 million respectively. For perpetual liquidity, Backpack ($41.19 million) and OKX ($20.54 million) are the notable names outside the top two. Bybit does not provide perpetual liquidity data within the MiCA context, just like Crypto.com and Gate.

Market coverage and KYC requirements

In terms of market coverage, Kraken is also the leader with access to 1,704 markets. Coinbase follows with 1,074 markets and Crypto.com with 883. Gate (303), Bitstamp (298), Bybit (133), Backpack (125) and OKX (65) complete the list.

Another interesting difference between the platforms lies in the KYC requirements. Kraken, Coinbase, Backpack, OKX and Bitstamp enforce mandatory identity verification. Bybit, Crypto.com and Gate do not require this within this MiCA overview. The exchanges are supervised by various European regulators, including the Central Bank of Ireland for Kraken, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) for Coinbase and Bitstamp, and the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) for OKX, Crypto.com and Gate. Bybit falls under the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).

The MiCA regulation, which is taking increasingly shape in Europe, provides a clearer picture of which exchanges comply with European standards. Europe now already counts 21 approved stablecoin issuers and 270 CASPs under MiCA. With its MiCA exchange tracker, DefiLlama offers a handy tool for anyone who wants to know how large and liquid the regulated European crypto market has become.