For Europe’s crypto industry, one of the most important deadlines in its history falls on 1 July. That date marks the end of the transitional period under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) — the framework that, as the first comprehensive EU law for the sector, brings exchanges, brokers and wallet providers under formal financial supervision of the kind long applied to banks.

Companies that have not obtained authorisation by then may no longer serve European customers, or must shut down their EU operations entirely. MiCA replaces the previous patchwork of 27 national regimes with a single rulebook: a licence granted in one member state acts as a “passport” for the entire single market. In return, providers must meet uniform requirements on capital, governance, the safeguarding of client funds and anti-money-laundering controls.

Only a fraction holds a licence

The scale of the looming market shakeout is considerable. According to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which ruled out an extension of the deadline back in April, only around 210 companies held full authorisation by May — out of more than 1,200 that previously operated under national crypto registrations across the EU.

That amounts to a conversion rate well below one fifth. The vast majority of existing providers are therefore approaching the deadline without a licence. National regulators warn that continuing to operate without authorisation after 1 July can carry supervisory consequences — and, in France, even criminal ones.

What ESMA requires

In a public statement, ESMA has spelled out how unauthorised crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) must wind down their business while protecting clients. The authority expects these providers to wind down “in an orderly manner” and to safeguard their clients’ interests in the process. ESMA sets out three specific obligations:

• No new clients: Unauthorised providers must “immediately stop onboarding new EU clients,” must not open new client relationships or accounts, and must cease marketing and solicitation.
• Wind-down services only: Services are limited to what is necessary to sell or transfer crypto-assets, reallocate holdings or close positions. Custody of client assets may continue only for “the period strictly necessary to complete an orderly exit.”
• Clear communication: Providers must inform clients — retail and institutional — “clearly, promptly and repeatedly” about the measures taken and the wind-down plan. That includes a deadline by which any residual positions would be closed automatically.

The wind-down must comply with all relevant EU and national rules as well as anti-money-laundering obligations, the authority stresses. It also reminds CASPs established outside the EU that they may neither serve EU clients nor solicit them — not even in a business-to-business context.

A warning to consumers

ESMA issues an explicit warning to the clients of unauthorised providers: they “do not benefit from MiCA safeguards,” including protections for their assets. The authority urges users to check the ESMA Register to confirm whether their provider is authorised, and to act promptly if in doubt — for example by transferring their crypto-assets to an authorised platform or to a self-hosted wallet.

ESMA and the national competent authorities are in direct contact with the entities concerned, it says, and may take “coordinated action” against unauthorised providers after the deadline.

The winners: who has cleared the bar

For licensed providers, the cut-off date promises an upside: as unlicensed competitors retreat, their customers may flow to those who remain. A number of well-known names have already obtained authorisation:

• Bitpanda (Vienna) was an early mover and holds the MiCA licence three times over: from Austria’s FMA, Germany’s BaFin and Malta’s MFSA. The FMA granted the fintech its Austrian authorisation in April 2025 — the first company in the country to receive it.
• Coinbase (US) secured its MiCA licence in June 2025 from Luxembourg’s regulator, the CSSF, making the Grand Duchy its European hub. The exchange had originally chosen Ireland before shifting to Luxembourg.
• Kraken (US) obtained its authorisation via the Central Bank of Ireland.
• Revolut received its crypto licence from the regulator in Cyprus at the end of 2024.
• Bitvavo (Netherlands) is licensed through the Dutch authority AFM.

Vienna, too, has emerged as a hub beyond Bitpanda: the FMA has granted authorisations to KuCoin EU, Bybit EU and AMINA Bank, among others. With the single MiCA passport, these providers can offer their services across the entire European Economic Area.

The most prominent question mark: Binance

The most prominent potential “casualty” of the deadline is Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. Reuters initially reported, citing two people familiar with the matter, that the company’s licence application with the Greek market regulator (the Hellenic Capital Market Commission) was close to being rejected.

Binance has since formally withdrawn its application in Greece and intends to seek authorisation in another member state instead. The company said it had been working constructively with regulators for 18 months and was confident of obtaining a licence “in the coming months.” It plans to announce the member state publicly only once the decision is final.

By 1 July, Binance says, it will take the necessary steps to comply with the applicable rules. That means “some users may be affected” — and those users would be informed directly.

How the industry reshapes itself after the cut-off will only become clear in the weeks that follow. Observers expect a smaller, more institutionally driven market with genuine passporting — and a competitive field that reorganises around the few fully licensed platforms.

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