MiCA from 1 July 2026: What Changes, and Which Exchanges Are Licensed

On 1 July 2026, the EU’s crypto market changes for good. MiCA’s transitional period ends, and the rule becomes simple: provide crypto-asset services to EU clients without a licence, and you have to stop.

The coverage has been loud and often wrong. Viral graphics list “banned” exchanges that are actually licensed. Threads claim “80% of crypto is leaving Europe” without saying what that 80% really is. This guide sets out what genuinely changes on 1 July, which exchanges are licensed and which are not, and what it means for you as an EU user.

This page is general information on EU law as of 29 June 2026, not individual legal advice, and the licensing position can change. For how we work with crypto businesses and individuals, see crypto lawyer in Latvia.

In short

• The grandfathering period ends on 1 July 2026. No extensions. From that date, unlicensed firms must stop serving EU clients.
• Enforcement is real: penalties of up to 5% of annual turnover or €10 million (whichever is greater), plus suspension of activities.
• Most large consumer exchanges are licensed and staying. The notable exception is Binance, which is leaving the EU.
• One MiCA licence passports across the whole EU/EEA, so a licensed exchange works everywhere in the bloc.
• Expect some non-compliant stablecoins and tokens to be delisted.
• The “~80% did not get licensed” figure is the long tail of small registrations, not the exchanges most people actually use.

What actually changes on 1 July

Since 30 December 2024, MiCA has governed crypto-asset services in the EU. Firms that were already operating under national law got a transitional “grandfathering” window to keep running while they applied for a full CASP (crypto-asset service provider) authorisation. That window closes on 1 July 2026.

What that means in practice:

• No more transition. ESMA has confirmed there is no extension. After 1 July, providing listed crypto-asset services to EU clients without a CASP licence is a breach of EU law, and the firm must cease those activities.
• Real penalties. Enforcement is not theoretical. Sanctions include suspension of operations and fines of up to 5% of annual turnover or €10 million, whichever is greater.
• One licence, the whole bloc. A CASP authorisation granted in any one member state passports across the entire EU/EEA. A licensed exchange does not need to license separately in each country.
• Stablecoins and tokens. MiCA imposes strict reserve and capital rules on stablecoin issuers. Coins that do not meet them face delisting or trading-pair restrictions across EU venues, which is why some exchanges have already trimmed their EU stablecoin offering.

The conversion numbers tell the story of scale. Of roughly 1,200 firms that held pre-MiCA national registrations, only around 240 have secured a full CASP authorisation. That is a conversion rate near 20%, or put the other way, roughly 80% did not make the cut.

Will your exchange still work?

For most people, yes. The exchanges with the largest EU user bases overwhelmingly obtained their licence. Based on the official ESMA register, the major licensed names include:

Exchange	Licensed in	Regulator
Coinbase	Luxembourg	CSSF
Kraken	Ireland	CBI
OKX	Malta	MFSA
Crypto.com	Malta	MFSA
Bybit	Austria	FMA
KuCoin	Austria	FMA
Bitvavo	Netherlands	AFM
Bitpanda	Austria	FMA
Bitstamp	Luxembourg	CSSF
Gemini	Malta	MFSA
Gate	Malta	MFSA

These exchanges are not going anywhere in the EU. They hold a CASP authorisation that works across the bloc.

The conspicuous exception among the global giants is Binance. It filed a CASP application through an entity in Greece in January 2026, then withdrew that application on 24 June and told European users it will stop providing crypto services in the EU from 1 July. As the world’s largest exchange, it is the one big name genuinely exiting.

A handful of other large, mostly offshore exchanges were also not on the ESMA register as of late June 2026, including MEXC, HTX (formerly Huobi), Bitget and Bitfinex. Some may still be mid-application or may license under an entity name not yet matched, so this is a snapshot, not a verdict. If you use any of them, check the register directly.

Don’t trust the viral “banned exchanges” graphics

In the run-up to the deadline, social media filled with shareable lists of exchanges supposedly “no longer available in Europe.” Several are simply wrong.

The most common errors: Gate.io and KuCoin are both licensed (in Malta and Austria respectively), and so is Bybit. Graphics that list them as leaving are misinformed, and acting on a screenshot could send you scrambling to move funds off an exchange that is perfectly compliant.

The reliable source is the official ESMA register of authorised CASPs, which aggregates the national regulators’ decisions. Before you move anything based on a post, check the name there. Third-party trackers can be a convenient front-end, but they are only as current as their last sync, and the register is the authority. Ours — a searchable register of MiCA-authorised CASPs, refreshed weekly from ESMA — is built for exactly this check.

The “80% are leaving” headline, in context

It is true that roughly 80% of pre-MiCA registered firms did not convert to a full licence. But that number is misleading if you read it as “80% of the exchanges I use are disappearing.”

The vast majority of that 80% is the long tail: small national VASP registrations, dormant entities, and niche operators that most people never traded on. The large, liquid exchanges that hold the bulk of EU volume largely did get licensed. The headline is a cull of the tail, not of the names in your portfolio. Binance is the one major casualty.

What to do as an EU user

A short, practical checklist before the deadline:

• Check your exchange on the official ESMA register. If the entity serving you holds a CASP authorisation, you are fine. If it does not, treat access as ending.
• Move or withdraw funds from any unlicensed exchange before you are restricted to a withdraw-only state, or locked out entirely.
• Expect some stablecoin and token delistings, and don’t be surprised if certain pairs disappear from EU venues.
• Ignore the viral lists. Verify each name against the register rather than a graphic.
• Keep your records. If you do move assets or realise positions, the transactions may have tax consequences. See our guide to crypto taxes in Latvia.

What MiCA does not cover

One nuance worth understanding, especially for founders. A MiCA/CASP licence covers crypto spot trading, custody and transfers. It does not cover regulated financial instruments. Real tokenised stocks, regulated derivatives and similar products sit under MiFID II, a separate and heavier regime. So “we are MiCA licensed” is the entry ticket to the EU crypto market, not a licence to offer everything. We cover the licensing path in detail in our guide to getting a MiCA/CASP licence in Latvia.

When to talk to a lawyer

For most individual users, the deadline is a matter of checking the register and moving funds in good time. For crypto businesses, it is more consequential: whether you can serve EU clients at all after 1 July depends on holding the right authorisation, and the enforcement risk for getting it wrong is now concrete.

If you are a founder weighing where and how to get licensed, or a user who is unsure what the deadline means for a specific exchange or token, you can get in touch or read more about how we work as crypto lawyers in Latvia. Related reading: getting a MiCA/CASP licence in Latvia and crypto taxes in Latvia 2026.

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Updated: 29 June 2026. General information only and not individual legal advice. The licensing position changes; verify current status against the official ESMA register.