From July 1, 2026, cryptocurrency platforms serving customers in the European Union must hold a Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) licence under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. With the transitional period coming to an end, firms operating without authorisation can no longer legally provide crypto services across the bloc.
Among the exchanges affected is Binance, whose application for a MiCA licence was reportedly rejected in Greece. The company has since issued service modification and withdrawal notices to users in several European markets, including France, Italy, Spain and Poland, prompting customers to reassess where they hold and trade their digital assets.
Although more than 1,100 crypto firms previously operated under various national frameworks, only a relatively small number have secured MiCA authorisation. The new regulatory landscape has shifted attention toward licensed custodial platforms as well as non-custodial alternatives that operate differently from centralized exchanges.
SwissBorg is among the exchanges that obtained a CASP licence through France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). While MiCA licences provide passporting rights across the European Union regardless of the issuing regulator, approval from the AMF is generally viewed as reflecting a rigorous supervisory process. The company’s licence covers services including custody, order execution, transfers and portfolio management.
Kraken, meanwhile, received its MiCA licence through the Central Bank of Ireland and also holds a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) licence alongside an electronic money licence. This broader regulatory framework allows it to provide services beyond spot crypto trading, including certain derivatives products that fall outside MiCA’s scope and are regulated under MiFID II.
Not all users may choose another centralized exchange. Decentralized protocols such as THORChain offer an alternative model by enabling swaps of native assets across multiple blockchains without requiring users to permanently deposit funds with a centralized intermediary.
Unlike many decentralized exchanges that operate within a single blockchain ecosystem, THORChain facilitates direct exchanges between assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum using liquidity pools rather than wrapped tokens. Users maintain custody of their assets in their own wallets and interact with the protocol only when executing transactions, reducing reliance on third-party custodians outside the settlement process.
The post As MiCA Transition Ends, Europe’s Crypto Landscape Narrows To Regulated Providers And Decentralized Alternatives appeared first on Metaverse Post.
