Regulations
By Bruce Buterin
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323 Licensed Firms, 1,700 That Aren't. The numbers are pretty stark. By the end of July, the European Securities and Markets Authority —…
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Why the Compliance Gap Is So Dangerous. Getting a MiCA license isn't simple. The application process is involved, the requirements are…
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Fraudsters are moving fast. The EU's crypto licensing shakeout has handed scammers a ready-made playbook — fake websites, forged documents, and impersonated regulators — all…
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The trigger was July 1. That's when the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA, set its hard deadline for crypto firms operating inside the European Union to either…
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Stéphane Pontoizeau, from France's Autorité des Marchés Financiers — the AMF — said scammers have been impersonating AMF representatives directly, pushing users to move their…
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The numbers are pretty stark. By the end of July, the European Securities and Markets Authority — ESMA — reported that only 323 crypto companies had successfully obtained MiCA…
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ESMA has warned publicly that criminals are misusing its own identity and logo, circulating falsified documentation that looks official.
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And it's not just ESMA. The AMF warning from Pontoizeau makes clear this is happening at the national level too, not just through EU-wide bodies.
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See also: Bybit Payments GmbH Wins Austrian EMI License to Serve 30-Plus EEA Markets
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Getting a MiCA license isn't simple. The application process is involved, the requirements are detailed, and regulators across member states have varying timelines and capacities…
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Regulators are urging consumers to verify the authenticity of any contact or documentation claiming to come from an official body.
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No specific countermeasures beyond awareness campaigns have been disclosed yet. That's a gap.
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The broader picture is that MiCA, whatever its long-term merits, has created a short-term vacuum. Regulatory transitions always do.
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Related: Luxembourgs Bill 8722 Pulls Crypto Exchanges Into a 75-Agent Fraud Alert Network
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ESMA's licensed entity list currently sits at 323 firms.
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