ESMA's latest update to the MiCA register added BingX, YouHodler and Banco Santander's Openbank as registered crypto asset service providers. The register now lists 375 unique CASPs. That's the running total after this week's additions, and it keeps Europe's licensing ledger moving in one direction.
The three names are an odd trio. BingX is an offshore-leaning exchange with a large retail derivatives business. YouHodler is a smaller lending and yield platform. Openbank is the digital arm of Spain's Santander — a bank subsidiary sitting on the same list as two crypto-native firms.
What the register actually means
A MiCA registration isn't a rubber stamp. CASPs that appear on the register have cleared the authorization process in at least one EU member state, which then gives them passporting rights across the bloc. For users, the practical effect is that the entity is on the hook to a European regulator rather than an offshore one.
The register has been filling up steadily since MiCA's crypto-asset rules took effect. Hitting 375 unique entries is a milestone of sorts, though the number itself says more about paperwork than about market share. Plenty of registered firms are small. Some are local. A few are the European subsidiaries of much larger groups.
BingX's European footing
BingX's addition is the one likely to draw attention. The exchange has built its user base largely outside the EU and has faced the same regulatory questions as other offshore venues. A MiCA registration gives it a formal route into the bloc — and puts it under supervision it didn't have before.
Whether that translates into a bigger European push is a separate question. Registration is the entry ticket, not the strategy.
Openbank and the bank-channel question
Openbank's presence on the list is a reminder that MiCA was designed to pull banks and crypto firms into the same framework. Santander's digital unit has been building out retail investment products, and crypto services fit that pattern. A licensed bank subsidiary offering crypto assets under a European passport is a different proposition from an exchange doing the same thing — the compliance machinery is already in place.
YouHodler, meanwhile, slots into the lending and yield category. That corner of the market has had a rough few years, and MiCA registration is one way for a platform to distinguish itself from the unlicensed pack.
The number to watch
ESMA updates the register as new authorizations come through, so the 375 figure will move. The more useful signal is the mix. If more bank subsidiaries and fewer offshore exchanges keep appearing, the register starts to look like a map of where European crypto business is actually settling. For now, it's a list of 375 names, three of them new this week.
