Regulations

Story: Virtu Financial’s MiCA License Opens 27-Country EU Crypto Market

By Dan Saada

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Who Else Is Racing for MiCA Approval. Virtu isn't alone here. Not even close. The MiCA approval wave has been building for months, and…

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What Virtu Still Hasn't Said. There are gaps in what's public. Virtu hasn't disclosed specific operational timelines following…

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Virtu Financial Ireland Limited just got the green light. The firm, a subsidiary of Virtu Financial Inc.

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That's a big deal for an institutional market-maker. The CASP license, which stands for Crypto-Asset Service Provider, lets Virtu run digital asset trading and liquidity…

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Scotte Moegling, Head of Business Development for Digital Assets at Virtu Financial, said the CASP license reflects the firm's dedication to robust regulatory frameworks and its…

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Virtu isn't alone here. Not even close. The MiCA approval wave has been building for months, and several of the biggest names in crypto have already secured their spots.

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Kraken got a MiCA license from the Central Bank of Ireland. Alongside that approval, Kraken reported that euro-denominated spot trading now accounts for 17.

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Crypto.com and OKX both went through Malta for their authorizations. Coinbase and Bitstamp secured approvals in Luxembourg.

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That's not necessarily a disadvantage. Virtu's core business isn't retail order flow — it's institutional liquidity.

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Read also: Veda Opens Kraken DeFi Earn Vault Stack to 2,000-Plus Privy Developers

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And that's kind of normal at this stage. Getting the license is step one. Actually standing up the operations, onboarding clients, and integrating with EU market infrastructure…

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The broader context matters here. MiCA only reached full implementation relatively recently, and the race to secure licenses has been intense.

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For institutional players watching the EU crypto space, the Virtu approval probably reads as a signal.

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Read also: 2011 Bitcoin Wallet Moves $2.54M After NY Abandonment Lawsuit Names It Defendant

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The MiCA framework also gives clients something they've wanted for a while — a counterparty that's regulated, auditable, and operating under rules that have real teeth.

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