Bitgo Europe GmbH is rolling out a regulated infrastructure channel for European crypto businesses that risk losing their operating licenses as national virtual asset service provider (VASP) registrations expire under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR). The move comes weeks before a July deadline that will effectively end the patchwork of national crypto licensing regimes across the European Economic Area.
The July cliff
MiCAR replaced the fragmented national registration systems that crypto firms previously relied on. Those legacy VASP registrations — issued country by country — are set to expire before July, creating a hard deadline for any business that hasn't yet secured a full MiCAR license. For companies still operating under the old national permits, the window is closing fast.
What Bitgo is offering
Bitgo Europe GmbH, a regulated entity, is opening what it calls a “regulated infrastructure path” — essentially a way for these firms to keep offering services without a gap in authorization. The details are sparse, but the pitch is straightforward: instead of each company scrambling to get its own MiCAR license from scratch, they can plug into Bitgo’s existing regulated setup. That saves time and legal costs.
The timing isn’t accidental. With weeks to go, many smaller exchanges and wallet providers are still in the application queue. Some aren’t even sure they’ll make the cut. Bitgo is positioning itself as a bridge for those firms — a regulated backstop that keeps them operational while the broader market adjusts.
Who needs this
The service targets any crypto business in the EEA that currently holds a national VASP registration — think exchanges, custodian wallet providers, and brokerages. Under MiCAR, those national authorizations lose their force. Without a new license or an arrangement like Bitgo’s, they’d have to stop serving EU clients. That’s a lot of businesses. The European Securities and Markets Authority has been tracking the transition, but the actual number of firms still on legacy registrations isn't public.
Bitgo’s announcement suggests there’s enough demand — or enough anxiety — to warrant a commercial solution. It’s not the first regulated infrastructure play in Europe, but it’s one of the few aimed specifically at the MiCAR transition gap.
The bigger regulatory shift
MiCAR is the first comprehensive crypto regulation in the EU, and it’s meant to create a single market for digital assets. That’s good for standardization, but the transition has been messy. National regulators have moved at different speeds. Some firms applied for MiCAR licenses months ago and are still waiting. Others didn’t bother, betting on a last-minute fix. The July deadline is that fix-or-fail moment.
Bitgo Europe GmbH isn’t naming specific partners yet. But the service is live now, and the company says it can onboard firms quickly. For a crypto business staring at a lapsed license, that speed might be the difference between staying in business and shutting down EU operations.
What happens after July is the real test. If enough firms take Bitgo’s path, it could become a de facto infrastructure layer for MiCAR compliance. If not, the market might see a wave of exits — or a last-minute rush of license applications that regulators can’t process in time. Either way, the next few weeks will show who made the cut and who didn’t.
