Overview
- The EU’s July 1 MiCA deadline required unlicensed crypto firms to stop regulated services and either wind down or transfer customer assets to authorised providers.
- Regulators report an uptick in fraud that uses copied logos, cloned websites, counterfeit certificates and fake support accounts to trick customers into moving crypto to scam-controlled wallets.
- Authorities including ESMA and national watchdogs warn they will not contact individuals to request funds or create temporary regulator-controlled wallets and tell users to verify providers via official registers and regulator channels.
- The MiCA Crypto Alliance launched a searchable MiCA CASP Tracker on Aug. 5 to turn ESMA’s interim authorisation data into an easier-to-use directory for customers and compliance teams.
- MiCA’s ongoing governance, capital, custody and compliance rules are raising operating costs, favouring larger firms, encouraging consolidation and keeping supervisors busy with authorisations and custody reviews.