The clock is ticking for crypto firms operating in the European Union. On July 1, the transitional period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation expires, and any exchange, broker, or wallet without a CASP license must halt operations. As of today, only 14 out of 183 MiCA-authorized entities hold a license to operate trading platforms — a fact that leaves the vast majority of previously registered firms on the outside looking in.
The 14 who made the cut
The list of authorized exchanges with trading platform licenses reads like a who's who of the industry's biggest names: Coinbase (via Ireland), Kraken (Ireland and Luxembourg), Binance (using its EU passport), OKX (Malta), Crypto.com (Malta), Bitstamp (Luxembourg), Bitpanda (Austria), Bitvavo (Netherlands), and Revolut. Notably absent from that list is any platform that lists Tether (USDT). Tether did not apply for MiCA authorization, and no licensed exchange currently offers USDT trading pairs. Major exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com, and Binance have already blocked EU access to USDT.
Stablecoin shakeout
Circle's USDC and EURC are the only top-10 stablecoins that meet MiCA's rules. That means EU users holding USDT have two choices before the deadline: convert to USDC or EURC, or move funds to a non-EU platform. The conversion rate from old VASP registrations to full MiCA authorization is roughly 8% — a signal that many smaller companies simply couldn't afford the compliance bill, which runs between €250,000 and €500,000. A number of smaller EU crypto firms have already announced they're exiting the market rather than attempt to jump through the regulatory hoops.
Where the licenses landed
Germany leads the pack with 53 MiCA authorizations — nearly a third of the total. The Netherlands follows with 25, France with 13, and Malta with 12. But ten EU and EEA states have issued zero CASP licenses: Croatia, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. Estonia, which once held hundreds of VASP licenses, has seen its conversion rate fall close to zero. Poland hasn't even passed domestic MiCA legislation yet. France's financial markets regulator, the AMF, has warned that continued unauthorized operation after the deadline risks criminal prosecution.
What users need to do now
For the millions of EU retail investors, the message is straightforward: check whether your exchange appears on the official list of authorized CASP license holders. If it doesn't, move your crypto before July 1. For firms without a license, the options are narrowing — obtain a license, wind down, transfer clients to an authorized CASP, or merge with a license holder. The deadline isn't flexible, and the window to act is closing fast.
