EU authorizes 12 new crypto service providers under MiCA

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The European Union has authorized 12 additional crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) under its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, bringing the total to 321, as revealed in its fourth register update since the framework’s July 1 transitional deadline.

• 12 new CASPs join MiCA register
• CASPs face MiCA licensing rules
• EU weighs stronger ESMA oversight

On July 31, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU authority responsible for enhancing investor protection, promoting orderly markets and ensuring financial stability, published its updated register of authorized CASPs, with 12 newly licensed firms listed.

The new additions included German cooperative banks Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Oberbayern Suedost, VR Bank Schleswig-Holstein Mitte and VR-Bank Landau-Mengkofen; the Spain-based Basque Pay and Fintech Payments; and, in France, Finary, Woorton, Blockchain Process Security and Shares Financial Assets.

ESMA also added three Italy-based companies to its list of non-authorized firms, namely Servo Lendisco, Flandenzo, and Corona Fondenza.

MiCA’s other two registers, issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and issuers of e-money tokens (EMTs), the former being tokens that maintain a stable value by referencing one or more assets, the latter tokens that maintain a stable value by referencing a single fiat currency, were not updated, remaining at zero and 41, respectively.

Crypto firms getting in line with MiCA

The landmark MiCA regulatory framework came fully into force on December 30, 2024, and requires CASPs operating in the EU to apply for a license and obtain authorization from the national competent authority (NCA), the designated regulatory body in an EU Member State where their operations are based.

Under a transitional regime, CASPs operating in the EU could continue operating while they apply for MiCA authorization for up to 18 months after the December 30 implementation date, or until their MiCA license is granted or refused, whichever comes sooner. Meaning, firms that failed to apply for a license by July 1, 2026, or fail in their application, would have to cease operating across the 27-nation bloc immediately.

The latest ESMA update of its register is the fourth such update since the July 1 transitional deadline passed.

The first post-transition update saw nine new additions, the second sixteen, and the third seven. Notable names included BNY (NASDAQ: BNY), one of the world’s largest custodian banks, BitPay B.V., a pioneer in crypto payments, OSL EU, one of Asia’s leading institutional digital asset firms, and PROSEGUR CRYPTO, an institutional crypto custody platform backed by a major global security company.

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ESMA to take a more prominent role

However, since MiCA came fully into force in December 2024, concerns have grown that some jurisdictions, especially smaller states with perceived fewer regulatory resources, such as Malta and Luxembourg, have become hotspots for license applications and approvals.

This was summed up by Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, president of France’s financial services regulator (AMF), as a “race to the bottom” among regulators trying to lure in digital asset business. Last September, the French securities regulator hinted that it may even try to block companies that are licensed in other EU countries from operating in the country, over what it considers to be the inconsistent application of the EU’s licensing rules.

This situation led to calls for ESMA to take a more active role in the authorization process, and in November of last year, the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, began mooting plans to re-centralize digital asset supervision under ESMA.

On December 4, 2025, it adopted the “Market Integration and Supervision” package, aimed at removing barriers to an integrated capital market arising from differences in regulatory approaches, and at ensuring that passporting functions efficiently to facilitate operations across member states.

It is a comprehensive and extensive package that addresses around eighteen existing pieces of legislation, including reforming the EU’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) Pilot regime, which provides the legal framework for trading and settlement of transactions in crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments, and recentralizing regulatory authority of the digital asset space.

The Commission has since been seeking input from important stakeholders and bodies that would be affected by the legislative and regulatory shake-up, including the European Central Bank (ECB).

On April 9, the ECB published an opinion addressing the proposals, including the centralization of the authorization authority with ESMA.

“The ECB welcomes the Commission proposal to strengthen the supervisory framework for crypto asset service providers (CASPs) by transferring authorisation, monitoring and enforcement powers for all CASPs from the NCAs to ESMA,” the ECB opinion read. “This measure will ensure supervisory convergence, reduce fragmentation and mitigate cross-border risks in crypto-asset markets, thereby supporting financial stability and the integrity of the single market.”

Under the proposed plans, ESMA would also assume responsibility for the enforcement of crypto-asset–specific market abuse rules, while credit institutions providing crypto-asset services would remain subject to the centralized banking supervision framework to preserve regulatory coherence.

The package of proposals, which includes the change to digital asset supervision, will still need to be negotiated and voted on in the European Parliament. Thus, if it passes, it will likely not take effect until 2027 at the earliest.

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Watch: What is MiCA? Understanding the EU regulatory framework with Juan Ignacio Ibanez