Overview
- Europe’s markets watchdog instructed unauthorized crypto-asset service providers to begin orderly exits and restrict activity as the MiCA transitional period expires on July 1, 2026, a directive issued publicly on June 23 that targets firms without full CASP licences.
- Unauthorized firms must immediately stop onboarding EU clients, halt marketing and new account openings, and limit operations to selling, transferring or closing positions and short-term custody needed to complete exits.
- Regulators require firms to keep anti-money-laundering, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring fully active during wind-downs, and receiving CASPs must run full onboarding and KYC checks for any client transfers.
- Some companies are pursuing national licences while custody-bridge and white-label providers are offering migration paths, with reported moves such as Ripple’s preliminary Luxembourg approval and licensed platforms racing to onboard migrating customers.
- The enforcement is likely to concentrate business with licensed, well-capitalized providers, raise the risk of cross-border passport disputes between member states, and leave customers on unauthorized platforms without MiCA investor protections unless they move to an authorized CASP.