The European Union has made strides in cryptocurrency regulation through the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation, granting licenses to 53 companies to operate in the crypto sector.
Who Made the MiCA List?
As of July 2025, 14 stablecoin issuers and 39 crypto-asset service providers have received MiCA licenses, allowing these firms to 'passport' their services across all 30 European Economic Area countries without requiring separate national approvals.
**Leading Licensed Firms:**
**1. Stablecoin Issuers:** Circle, Crypto.com, Société Générale – Forge, Stablemint, Quantoz, Membrane Finance, StablR, among others. This comprises 20 fiat-backed stablecoins: 12 euro-pegged, 7 US dollar-pegged, and 1 Czech koruna-pegged.
**2. Crypto-Asset Service Providers:** Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, OKX, Robinhood, and others.
Germany and the Netherlands lead in licensing, collectively issuing 23 out of 39 CASP approvals.
Missing Companies: Binance and Tether
Two of the largest participants missing from the MiCA approval list are Tether, the world's largest stablecoin issuer, and Binance. Tether's lack of approval is attributed to insufficient audit transparency and a reluctance to adhere to MiCA's stringent governance and disclosure standards. Consequently, Tether's USDT has been delisted from several EU exchanges.
Binance has similarly failed to obtain a MiCA license, primarily due to ongoing regulatory issues and compliance challenges across Europe. The exchange has withdrawn applications or ceased operations in many EU countries over the past two years and is under investigation in France and Spain.
Phased Licensing and Its Impact on Liquidity in Europe
The phased rollout of MiCA entails that only compliant stablecoins and compliant service providers can be legally offered or listed in the EU. This has led to the delisting of non-compliant tokens, most notably USDT, and a market share consolidation among regulated entities. The new rules promise greater transparency and consumer protection for investors and institutions but also pose risks to reducing diversity and innovation in the short term.
> “MiCA is a game-changer for European crypto, but the bar is high. Firms must demonstrate not just technical compliance, but real governance and transparency,” notes a Brussels-based digital finance lawyer.
Europe's new MiCA regime is reshaping the crypto landscape—bringing clarity and access to some, while presenting new hurdles for the industry's largest players. The upcoming months will reveal whether giants like Binance and Tether will adapt or face irrevocable changes.
