Regulations

Story: MiCA Pushes 300 Authorised Firms Into Europe’s Crypto Consolidation Race

By Pankaj K

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Banks Move In as Smaller Firms Exit. Partnerships between banks and crypto companies are emerging fast.

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What MiCA Actually Demands. The licence isn't just a permission slip. MiCA authorisation comes with continuous obligations —…

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UK Adds Another Deadline to Watch. And then there's the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority opens its authorisation gateway for…

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Europe's crypto sector is getting squeezed. The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation hit its hard deadline on July 1, 2026, and the fallout is already reshaping who survives…

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Any company still serving EU clients without MiCA authorisation had to stop. Full stop. Unlicensed firms now must run wind-down plans and help customers move assets to authorised…

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About 300 firms had gained MiCA authorisation as of July. That's up from 194 by May, which sounds like progress.

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Partnerships between banks and crypto companies are emerging fast. Banks want the technology and client expertise. Crypto firms want the capital and the customer networks.

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France's CACEIS is nearing a deal to acquire Meria, a MiCA-licensed crypto platform. Portugal's Bison Bank has already integrated its digital-asset subsidiary and become a…

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That's a lot of movement in a short window.

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Fewer than 20% of banks are currently involved in crypto services, per Sygnum Europe. But regulatory clarity seems to be changing the calculus.

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Fintech mergers and acquisitions hit $251 billion in 2025. MiCA probably pushes that number higher, because buyers can spread compliance costs across bigger customer bases.

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See also: MiCA and FCA Rules Push European Crypto Firms Toward Mergers Over Licenses

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The licence isn't just a permission slip. MiCA authorisation comes with continuous obligations — governance requirements, anti-money laundering controls, ongoing reporting.

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That's kind of the whole dynamic in a nutshell. Scale matters more now. A mid-sized crypto broker that could survive under a national registration probably can't carry the full…

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The final shape of the market depends on a few things that are still unclear — ongoing authorisation processes, how operational costs shake out, and where customers end up moving…

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