European MiCA Register Adds 14 Crypto Firms, Including Ripple Payments Europe and Banks
Quick Look
- European authorities added 14 crypto companies, including Ripple Payments Europe, Bison Bank, and Hrvatska poštanska banka, to the MiCA framework register.
- This update brings the total licensed crypto-asset service providers to 294, signaling continued integration of traditional finance into Europe's regulated crypto market.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its interim MiCA register after the transitional period ended, adding 14 crypto companies to the list of licensed crypto-asset service providers.
European authorities added 14 crypto companies to the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework register in the second post-deadline update, signaling a slower licensing pace after an initial surge.
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its interim MiCA register on Thursday, bringing the total number of licensed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to 294.
The new entries include Ripple Payments Europe, the European payments arm of blockchain company Ripple, as well as Portugal-based Bison Bank and Croatia’s state-owned bank, Hrvatska poštanska banka (HPB).
The update follows ESMA’s previous register expansion on July 3, when the regulator added 37 CASPs in the first major post-deadline update after MiCA’s transitional period ended.
Several newly added companies highlight the continued entry of traditional financial institutions into Europe’s regulated crypto market.
In addition to Bison Bank and HPB, the MiCA register added two cooperative banks from Germany, namely Volksbank Schwarzwald-Donau-Neckar and Raiffeisenbank Auerbach-Freihung.
The update also included Liechtenstein-based Kaiser Partner Privatbank, expanding the presence of private banking groups offering regulated crypto services under MiCA.
The register counts dozens of traditional finance institutions, including Spain’s BBVA and CaixaBank, Germany’s Commerzbank, France’s CACEIS Bank and Standard Chartered Luxembourg.
ESMA reported no changes to its registers for electronic money tokens (EMTs), a category of crypto-assets designed to maintain a stable value against a single official currency, or asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), which are linked to multiple assets such as currencies or commodities.
As of the latest update, the EMT register counted 21 unique issuers, while the ART register continued to list no approved issuers.
The regulator also added two entities to its non-compliant register following actions by Italy’s securities regulator, the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e le Borsa (CONSOB).
The new additions were Reversal Investment Group and Kortex, bringing the total number of entries on the non-compliant list to 164, including crypto exchange MEXC.
Open Questions
- What specific crypto services will the newly registered CASPs offer?
- What are the implications for the 164 non-compliant entities?
- How will the slower licensing pace affect future market growth?
