MiCA-Licensed Crypto Exchanges: The Register List (November 2026)

Last checked: 10 November 2026 against the ESMA interim MiCA register. ESMA’s page marks the register as current to 5 November 2026.

The ESMA interim register lists 397 authorised crypto-asset service provider (CASP) records as of 5 November 2026, including more than 20 retail crypto exchanges and several on-ramp providers. The biggest names with a MiCA CASP licence are Kraken, Coinbase, OKX, Bybit, Bitpanda, Crypto.com, Bitstamp, KuCoin and Gemini, each authorised through a national regulator in one EU member state. Binance, MEXC and Bitget do not appear in the register, so they have no recorded MiCA authorisation on that date.

What happened, and when did MiCA come into force?

MiCA, formally Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, entered into force in June 2023 and started to apply on 30 December 2024, when ESMA also published its interim register of authorised CASPs. Member states were allowed an 18-month transitional period that ended on 1 July 2026. Exchanges with no MiCA authorisation by then had to stop onboarding new EU customers.

Which crypto exchanges have a MiCA licence?

The table below is built from ESMA’s CASPS.csv register file, downloaded on 10 November 2026. It shows the retail crypto exchanges that hold a MiCA CASP authorisation, their legal entity, the national regulator that authorised them and the authorisation date recorded by ESMA. A MiCA licence is issued by one member state and can be passported across the whole EU and EEA.

A few points worth noting. The register lists 397 CASP records in total; most are banks, brokers and custody firms rather than consumer exchanges. Some brands appear under more than one entity: Bitpanda holds both Bitpanda GmbH in Austria (9 April 2025) and BP23 CA Limited in Malta (27 January 2025), and Kraken uses two Irish entities, Payward Europe Solutions Limited and Payward Global Solutions Limited, both authorised on 25 June 2025. The legal entity matters because it is the one that must match the company named on your account. For detail on the biggest names, see our reviews of Coinbase, Kraken, Bitpanda and KuCoin.

Each exchange’s home authority is the regulator in the member state that granted the licence. Because a MiCA authorisation can be passported, that firm may then serve customers in any other EU or EEA state without a separate local licence, which is why a Luxembourg or Malta company can legally onboard users across the bloc. The services field is the more useful check than the brand name, since two similarly named firms can hold very different permissions.

What do the MiCA service classes mean?

Each register entry lists the specific services a firm is allowed to provide, coded from a to j under MiCA. Custody is class a, trading-platform operation is class b, and exchange of crypto for funds or other crypto is class c and d. An exchange may hold only some of these, so the services column shows what each entity is actually authorised to do.

• a: custody and administration of crypto-assets
• b: operation of a trading platform
• c: exchange of crypto-assets for funds
• d: exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets
• e: execution of orders on behalf of clients
• f: placing of crypto-assets
• g: reception and transmission of orders
• h: advice on crypto-assets
• i: portfolio management on crypto-assets
• j: transfer services for crypto-assets

ESMA’s register marks most exchange records with the legal basis ‘Article 63 – CASP authorisation’. A licence granted in one member state is valid across the whole EU and EEA through passporting, so the home authority listed in the table is the supervisor of first resort, not the only authority a firm answers to.

A shorter list does not mean a firm is untrustworthy; it means the firm applied for, and was granted, those specific permissions. Bitvavo’s entry, for example, lists custody, trading-platform operation and transfers, while Coinbase’s Luxembourg entity also lists order execution and placing. The register records what was authorised, not what the firm may later have asked for.

How do I verify a MiCA licence myself?

You can check any exchange’s MiCA status in two places: ESMA’s public register of authorised CASPs and the national regulator’s own register in the member state that issued the licence. Matching the legal entity name is essential, because several firms share similar brand names and unlicensed copycats sometimes imitate a licensed brand.

1. Open ESMA’s MiCA register page and download the CASPS.csv file.
2. Search the file for the exchange’s brand name or legal entity name, not just a similar-sounding name.
3. Confirm the legal entity matches the one named in your account agreement or on the platform’s legal page.
4. Note the authorisation date and home member state shown in the record.
5. Cross-check the same entity on the home regulator’s own register, for example the CSSF in Luxembourg, the FMA in Austria, the Central Bank of Ireland, BaFin in Germany or the CNMV in Spain.
6. If an exchange claims a MiCA licence but does not appear in the register, ask it for its registration number and verify that number directly with the regulator.

The register reflects information supplied by the authorising authority. If an authorisation is withdrawn, ESMA keeps the record with the withdrawal’s effective date, so a historical entry is not proof that a firm is still licensed today.

Because the file is refreshed weekly and new authorisations appear continuously, a check done today can be out of date within weeks. Treat the register as a starting point, and confirm directly with the regulator before you rely on a licence for anything large.

Which big exchanges are not yet MiCA-licensed?

Several large global exchanges do not appear in the ESMA CASP register as of 5 November 2026: Binance, MEXC, Bitget, Bitfinex, HTX (formerly Huobi) and Upbit. Absence means ESMA has recorded no MiCA CASP authorisation for them on that date. It is not by itself proof of wrongdoing, but it means EU customers using them are not protected by a MiCA licence.

Binance is the most prominent case. It applied for a MiCA licence in Greece, withdrew that application in late June 2026, and from 1 July 2026 suspended crypto services in France while notifying users in other EU markets, according to a Euronews report published via Yahoo Finance. Binance has said it intends to reapply through another member state, but as of the 5 November 2026 register update no Binance entity holds a recorded MiCA CASP authorisation. HTX, formerly Huobi, and MEXC are likewise absent from the register on that date, so treat any EU-facing claim of a MiCA licence from them with caution until a record appears in ESMA’s file.

MEXC, Bitget and Bitfinex also have no entry in the file, so treat any claim that they are EU-licensed with the same caution. The register does not show pending applications, so absence could mean an application is still under review rather than rejected; the only safe reading is that no authorisation is yet recorded.

Which crypto on-ramp providers have a MiCA licence?

On-ramp and payment providers, the services many exchanges and wallets use to convert euros or cards into crypto, also need a MiCA CASP licence. The register shows the main consumer-facing on-ramp brands below, each authorised by a national regulator in one member state.

These firms are not exchanges in the traditional sense, but they sit inside most buy flows, so their licence status matters if you are checking a purchase that routes through a third-party payment provider. Card-to-crypto purchases often show the payment provider, not the exchange, on the bank statement, so checking the provider’s licence answers a common ‘who actually processed my payment’ question.

What does a MiCA licence actually cover?

A MiCA CASP licence authorises specific crypto-asset services, from custody and exchange to trading-platform operation and transfers. Once granted by one member state, it can be passported across all EU and EEA states. It does not authorise a firm in the US, the UK or other non-EEA markets, and it is not a promise that an exchange is safe or that any coin will hold value.

MiCA’s stated objectives include market integrity, financial stability and clearer consumer understanding of the risks of crypto, according to ESMA. Authorised CASPs face transparency and disclosure rules and supervision by their home authority, a stronger regime than the bare anti-money-laundering registrations many exchanges previously held. A MiCA licence brings conduct, disclosure and safeguarding rules, including rules on how client assets must be held and how complaints are handled. Our guide to how MiCA regulation works explains the framework in more detail, and the best MiCA-licensed exchanges in Europe compares the leading licensed platforms. For choosing any exchange generally, start with our exchanges hub.

What does it cost to buy crypto on a MiCA-licensed exchange?

Fees are set by the exchange, not by MiCA, and vary widely between instant-buy services and spot order books. On the figures published by each firm, Kraken charges 1% for standard instant buys and 1.5% for custom orders, while Bitvavo starts its EUR spot market at 0.15% maker and 0.25% taker. Card funding adds a separate charge on top.

Worked example on an illustrative EUR 1,000 purchase funded by SEPA: Kraken’s 1% instant buy costs about EUR 10, while the same trade on Bitvavo’s EUR spot market at the starting taker rate costs about EUR 2.50. Fund that purchase by card instead and Kraken adds roughly EUR 37.75 (3.75% plus EUR 0.25), while Bitvavo adds about EUR 10 (1%). These are round, labelled examples, not live prices. Crypto assets are volatile and this is not financial advice.

What should users do now?

If you live in the EU or EEA, choose an exchange that appears in the ESMA register under the exact legal entity your account is opened with. Verify the licence yourself using the two-step check above, keep holdings you do not plan to trade in a hardware wallet, and remember that a MiCA licence protects how a firm is supervised, not the value of the crypto you hold.

1. Confirm the exchange is in the register under the legal entity you signed up with, not just a similar brand name.
2. Check the home member state and that your country is covered by passporting.
3. Move assets you are not trading into a hardware wallet such as a Ledger Nano S.
4. Watch for phishing: only enter seed or recovery details on the official app, and never share them with anyone.
5. Date-stamp the check, because the register changes weekly and authorisations can be withdrawn.

The register is a snapshot, not a permanent seal. Re-check before you move a meaningful amount, especially if an exchange is newly listed or has recently changed its legal entity. If an exchange you already use disappears from the register or changes its legal entity, pause new deposits and confirm the new entity’s licence before transferring anything.