How to check if a crypto exchange is licensed under MiCA
Check a crypto exchange's MiCA licence in five steps: ESMA's CASP register, national regulators and red flags, plus the MiCA status of 15 platforms.
To check if a crypto exchange is licensed under MiCA, find the exact company that serves EU customers, look it up in ESMA’s interim MiCA register of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), and confirm the entry with the national regulator that granted it. If the company isn’t in either register, it shouldn’t be serving you: since 1 July 2026, only MiCA-authorised CASPs may provide crypto-asset services in the European Union.
We checked ESMA’s register files, national regulator pages and each provider’s own licence pages on 23 October 2026. The five steps below work for any platform, and the table further down shows what we found for the 15 crypto platforms we track. If you’re still choosing where to start, our guide on how to choose a crypto exchange puts the licence check in a wider checklist.
What a MiCA licence is, and what it isn’t
A MiCA licence is a CASP authorisation granted under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) by one national competent authority, such as the AFM in the Netherlands or the Central Bank of Ireland. It lets a firm offer the crypto asset services listed in its authorisation in its home country and, through passporting, across the EU and EEA.
The crypto assets regulation applies in stages. Its rules for stablecoins, called asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, have applied since 30 June 2024, and the rules for crypto-asset service providers since 30 December 2024. MiCA defines ten services, and an authorisation names the ones a firm may provide:
- custody and administration of crypto assets and other digital assets for clients;
- operating a trading platform;
- exchanging crypto assets for funds, such as euros;
- exchanging crypto assets for other crypto assets;
- order execution for clients;
- placing of crypto assets;
- reception and transmission of orders;
- advice on crypto assets;
- portfolio management;
- transfer services.
What a MiCA licence isn’t: a deposit guarantee. Crypto held on a licensed exchange is not covered by the €100,000 deposit guarantee for bank accounts, and the Dutch central bank states that crypto-assets fall outside the investor compensation scheme. A licence also doesn’t cover everything a platform sells. Bitvavo and Crypto.com both state that their staking and Earn products are not regulated under MiCA. Payment services and e-money sit under separate licences too: Kraken’s e-money services run through Payward Ireland Limited, authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland, and Crypto.com’s fiat account through Foris MT Limited, an e-money institution in Malta.
MiCA was proposed by the European Commission to protect consumers, market integrity and financial stability. ESMA and the European Banking Authority write the technical standards that fill in the details, and ESMA works on supervisory convergence so that national regulators apply the rules in the same way.
How to check if a crypto exchange is licensed under MiCA in five steps
The fastest way to check a licence is to start from the exchange’s legal entity, not its brand name, because global brands often serve EU residents through a separate EU company.
- Find the legal entity that serves EU residents. Look in the website footer, the terms of use or a page called “licences” or “legal”. Kraken serves the EEA through Payward Europe Solutions Limited, Coinbase through Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. and Bybit through Bybit EU GmbH on bybit.eu. Write down the exact company name.
- Search the ESMA interim MiCA register. On ESMA’s MiCA page, download the file of authorised crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), open it in a spreadsheet app and search it for the entity name and the brand.
- Read the whole row. Check the home member state, the competent authority, the authorisation date, the authorised services and the countries the firm passports into. A row for the brand but a different legal entity is not enough.
- Confirm it with the national regulator. Search the regulator named in the row in its own register (links in the table below). National registers are updated first, so a very recent authorisation may appear there before it reaches the ESMA file.
- Check the non-compliant list and warnings. ESMA publishes a separate file of non-compliant entities, and national regulators publish their own warnings. If the platform appears there, don’t deposit.
ESMA says it publishes a new version of the register weekly, and it keeps withdrawn authorisations in the file with the date the withdrawal took effect. Always check that date column: a row is not proof that a licence is still active.
Inside the ESMA interim MiCA register
The ESMA interim MiCA register is a set of five CSV files published under Articles 109 and 110 of MiCA, not a searchable website. The register data comes from the national competent authorities that authorise or receive notifications from each firm. You’ll also see it called the ESMA MiCA register or the MiCA CASP register; ESMA calls it an interim register because it is meant to move into a proper database.
| ESMA file | What it lists | Useful for |
|---|---|---|
| White papers | Crypto asset white papers for tokens other than stablecoins | Checking a token’s disclosure document |
| ART issuers | Issuers of asset-referenced tokens | Stablecoins backed by a basket of assets |
| EMT issuers | Issuers of e-money tokens | Euro and dollar stablecoins |
| CASPs | Authorised crypto-asset service providers | Checking an exchange, broker or wallet |
| Non-compliant entities | Firms providing crypto asset services without authorisation | Spotting platforms to avoid |
ESMA said the CSV files would be integrated into its IT systems from mid-2026. On 23 October 2026 the files were still published, and ESMA’s MiCA page showed a last update of 22 October 2026, so expect the format and link to change. Private CASP trackers and dashboards copy the same esma file and can lag behind it, so use the official version for your final check.
Authorised, notified, applied or transitional: what each status means
The status that matters for you is “authorised” or “notified”, and both must be active for the country you live in. Anything else means the firm may not provide crypto asset services to you under MiCA.
Authorised
An authorised crypto asset service provider has a CASP authorisation from a national regulator and appears in the ESMA CASP register with an authorisation date. Even then, read the row and the news. KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH was authorised by Austria’s FMA on 27 November 2025, but its authorised services exclude operating a trading platform, and on 18 May 2026 the FMA said the firm may still not commence business operations. Gemini’s Maltese entity is still listed, but Gemini closed all EEA customer accounts on 6 April 2026.
Notified
Banks and some other firms that are already regulated, such as investment firms, can offer crypto services after notifying their regulator instead of applying for a separate CASP licence. Trade Republic Bank GmbH, a German credit institution, notified BaFin in April 2025 for custody, execution, reception and transmission and transfer of crypto assets, and passports this to other EEA states. A notified bank appears in the same CASP file.
Applied
“Applied” means the firm is not authorised and may not take on EU clients yet. Bitget confirmed on 2 July 2026 that Bitget EU had applied to Austria’s FMA, but Bitget was not in ESMA’s CASP file of 22 October 2026. Binance applied to Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission in January 2026 and withdrew the application on 24 June 2026.
Transitional
The MiCA transitional period is over everywhere since 1 July 2026. Firms that provided crypto services under national law before 30 December 2024 could keep going until that date at the latest, unless their country set an earlier end:
| Country | Transitional period | Ended |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 6 months (firms registered with DNB) | 30 June 2025 |
| Germany | 12 months | 31 December 2025 |
| Ireland, Austria | 12 months (ESMA list) | End date not confirmed by the national regulator |
| Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Cyprus | 18 months | 1 July 2026 |
In June 2026 ESMA told firms without authorisation to stop onboarding clients and wind down in an orderly way. An exchange that still points to an old national registration, such as a former DNB registration, is not MiCA licensed.
Passporting: one CASP licence for the whole EU
Passporting lets a CASP authorised in one EU member state serve clients in other member states after its home regulator notifies them. The CASP register row lists the countries a firm passports into, so check that yours is included.
Most large exchanges passport everywhere. Kraken’s Irish authorisation covers all EEA countries, and Bitvavo’s Dutch authorisation covers all other EEA states. There are exceptions: Bybit EU GmbH and KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH passport to the EEA except Malta, and Bybit EU also refuses nationals of the US, Malta, Russia and several other countries.
A passport also tells you who supervises the firm. If you live in Germany and use Kraken, the Central Bank of Ireland is the home regulator that granted the licence, not BaFin.
MiCA status of 15 crypto platforms we track
The table shows the MiCA status of every crypto platform in our data, taken from ESMA’s CASP file, national regulator notices and the providers’ own pages, checked on 23 October 2026. Nine hold an active MiCA authorisation for EU residents and one is a notified bank; five can’t be used for new business in the EU.
| Platform | EU entity | MiCA status | Regulator | Since |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraken | Payward Europe Solutions Limited | Authorised | Central Bank of Ireland | 25 June 2025 |
| Coinbase | Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. | Authorised | CSSF (Luxembourg) | 20 June 2025 |
| Bitvavo | Bitvavo B.V. | Authorised | AFM (Netherlands) | 26 June 2025 |
| Bitpanda | Bitpanda GmbH | Authorised | FMA (Austria) | April 2025 |
| Crypto.com | Foris DAX MT Limited | Authorised | MFSA (Malta) | 27 January 2025 |
| OKX | OKX Europe Limited | Authorised | MFSA (Malta) | 27 January 2025 |
| Bybit EU | Bybit EU GmbH | Authorised, not passported to Malta | FMA (Austria) | 28 May 2025 |
| Gate | Gate Technology Limited | Authorised | MFSA (Malta) | 29 September 2025 |
| eToro | eToro (Europe) Ltd | Authorised | CySEC (Cyprus) | 16 January 2025 |
| Trade Republic | Trade Republic Bank GmbH | Notified as a bank | BaFin (Germany) | April 2025 |
| KuCoin | KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH | Authorised, but not allowed to start operations | FMA (Austria) | 27 November 2025 |
| Gemini | Gemini Intergalactic EU Ltd | Authorised, but EEA accounts closed on 6 April 2026 | MFSA (Malta) | August 2025 |
| Bitget | Bitget EU | Applied, not authorised | FMA (Austria) | None |
| Binance | None | Not authorised, application withdrawn | None | None |
| MEXC | None | Not authorised, on ESMA’s non-compliant list | None | None |
Bitpanda also holds MiCA authorisations for entities in Germany and Malta. For Gate, sign up with Gate EU at gate.com/en-eu: Gate’s global platform lists the Netherlands, Germany and other EU countries as restricted. Read our Kraken review or Bitvavo review for what a licensed exchange looks like in practice.
Where to check national registers
Every EU country has its own competent authority, from the AFM in the Netherlands to the Czech National Bank, the Estonian Financial Supervision Authority and Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission. These are the registers for the regulators that license the platforms above:
| Country | Regulator | Where to look |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | AFM | AFM register of crypto firms |
| Germany | BaFin | BaFin crypto-asset services page |
| Luxembourg | CSSF | CSSF entity search |
| Ireland | Central Bank of Ireland | Central Bank registers |
| Austria | FMA | FMA company database, category “CASP” |
| Malta | MFSA (Malta Financial Services Authority) | Financial Services Register on mfsa.mt |
| France | AMF | AMF white lists, filter “PSCA” |
The Austrian FMA database has two CASP categories: firms it authorised itself and CASPs from other EEA countries that notified it of a passport. That makes it a handy second source for any exchange that passports into Austria.
Red flags that an exchange is not MiCA licensed
The biggest red flag is a licence claim you can’t find in either register under the company name in your contract. These warning signs come up most often:
- The brand is listed, but your company isn’t. You signed up on a global site run by a non-EU entity instead of the EU entity in the register.
- “Licence pending” or “applied”. An application is not an authorisation, as Bitget’s case shows.
- Only non-EU or pre-MiCA licences. Binance’s licences page lists only Abu Dhabi entities, and MEXC’s terms claim no licence with any named regulator.
- A regulator warning. The AFM warned on 16 September 2025 that MEXC provided crypto services in the Netherlands without a MiCAR licence, and MEXC appears in ESMA’s non-compliant file.
- The licence covers less than the app sells. Check the authorised services column, and remember that staking and Earn products often sit outside MiCA.
- Authorised but winding down. A licence row doesn’t help if the firm can’t operate or is closing EU accounts.
- A look-alike website. Compare the web address with the one the regulator lists, and type it yourself rather than clicking ads or messages.
What to do if your exchange isn’t licensed
If your exchange isn’t licensed under MiCA, stop depositing, export your transaction history and move your crypto to a licensed exchange or to a wallet you control. Since 1 July 2026, unlicensed platforms are expected to wind down their EU business, and Binance already limits EU users to withdrawals.
Do it in this order: download your records first (you may need them for taxes), then open and verify an account at a licensed platform, then withdraw your coins to it in a small test amount before sending the rest. Our KYC verification guide explains what the new account will ask for, and our best crypto exchanges for beginners only list MiCA-licensed platforms. For how we weigh licences in our scores, see our methodology.
Questions people ask
Which crypto exchanges are MiCA licensed?
Of the platforms we track, Kraken, Coinbase, Bitvavo, Bitpanda, Crypto.com, OKX, Bybit EU, Gate and eToro hold an active MiCA authorisation and serve EU residents, and Trade Republic offers crypto as a notified bank. Statuses change, so search ESMA's CASP register yourself before you deposit.
Is Binance MiCA licensed?
No. Binance applied to Greece's Hellenic Capital Market Commission in January 2026 and withdrew the application on 24 June 2026. No Binance entity is in ESMA's register, and since 1 July 2026 Binance limits EU users to withdrawals and wind-down.
Does Coinbase have a MiCA licence?
Yes. Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. was authorised by the CSSF in Luxembourg on 20 June 2025 and passports that licence to every EEA country, including the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Ireland.
What is the ESMA interim MiCA register?
It is a set of five CSV files on ESMA's MiCA page: white papers, issuers of asset-referenced tokens, issuers of e-money tokens, authorised crypto-asset service providers and non-compliant entities. ESMA says it publishes a new version weekly.
Does a MiCA licence protect my money if the exchange fails?
Not like a bank account. A licence means an EU regulator supervises the firm, but crypto is not covered by the €100,000 deposit guarantee or by investor compensation schemes, and crypto prices can fall to zero.
What does it mean when an exchange has only applied for MiCA?
It means the exchange is not authorised and may not serve EU residents. Bitget, for example, confirmed in July 2026 that Bitget EU had applied to Austria's FMA, but it was not in ESMA's register on 22 October 2026.