Crypto exchanges in the Baltics and Nordics - 02.06.2026

On Tuesday, 2 June 2026, the Baltic and Nordic crypto market focuses on Tallinn, where the HIPTHER Baltics and Nordics conference is taking place at the Hilton Tallinn Park hotel. This is the most significant regional industry event exactly 28 days before the end of the MiCA transition period on 1 July. The conference is attended by representatives of the Norwegian Finanstilsynet, the Estonian Finantsinspektsioon, the Latvijas Banka and the Lietuvos bankas, as well as exchange operators, compliance specialists, legal advisers and fintech builders from the seven Baltic and Nordic countries. Market participants are simultaneously awaiting several regulatory decisions in the first week of June - the Norwegian Finanstilsynet's review of the Firi application, the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit's decision on Zondacrypto's remediation progress, and Latvijas Banka's fifth CASP licence. Market context: in Tuesday's session Bitcoin trades in the 74,200 US dollar zone, reflecting the ongoing spring consolidation phase ahead of the US Federal Reserve's June meeting.

HIPTHER Tallinn conference - regional regulator and industry gathering

The HIPTHER Baltics and Nordics conference at the Hilton Tallinn Park hotel opens a three-day programme on Tuesday focused on digital governance, AI integration in financial services, fintech regulated growth and the outlook for the crypto industry after the 1 July deadline. The first day's agenda includes several panels directly tied to MiCA implementation - Baltic and Nordic regulator cooperation on cross-border supervision, practical application of the passport mechanism in smaller markets, and market participants' experience with CASP licence applications. The opening session was addressed by Andre Nõmm, Deputy Head of the Estonian Finantsinspektsioon, and by Marina Krimuša, Head of the Financial Innovation Department at the Latvijas Banka.

The conference framework is a meaningful confirmation that the regional crypto industry increasingly operates as a single market segment, despite legal-jurisdiction differences. Updated data on CASP licensing dynamics in the region was presented at Tuesday's plenary session - in total, 14 full MiCA CASP licences have been issued across the Baltics and the Nordics, of which four are in Latvia, three in Lithuania, two in Finland, two in Sweden, one in Estonia, one in Norway and one in Danish passport activity. That is roughly 6.8 percent of the total number of authorised operators in the ESMA interim register across the entire European Economic Area.

Tuesday afternoon saw the unveiling of several regional industry organisation initiatives. The Baltic Banking Association and the Nordic Fintech Association publicly announced that formal recommendations will be submitted to the European Commission's MiCA review consultation by the end of June. The main topics are harmonisation of deposit guarantees for stablecoin issuers, acceleration of the public register of passport notifications, and capacity support mechanisms for small national regulators in cross-border crisis situations. A panel discussion on the integration of ETF and ETP products into regional pension portfolio strategies is scheduled for the end of the first day.

Norway - the Firi application and the Bare Bitcoin announcement

In Norway, on Tuesday, Firi's management published a strategic update on the status of its Finanstilsynet licence application. According to the company's corporate statement, the application is in the final documentary review phase and a decision is expected within the first ten days of June. Mads Halvorsen, acting CEO, said on the sidelines of the Tallinn conference that the operating structure of the exchange with more than 400,000 verified clients is fully aligned with MiCA requirements and that, once the licence is granted, expansion into the Swedish market via the passport mechanism will begin within a week.

On Tuesday, Bare Bitcoin announced a strategic partnership with Sparebank 1 - Norway's second-largest regional banking consortium. The cooperation envisages that Sparebank 1 customers will be able to access the Bare Bitcoin platform integrated into the bank's mobile application environment, significantly expanding Bare Bitcoin's reach in the retail customer segment. The cooperation is conditional on Bare Bitcoin obtaining a MiCA CASP licence, which is expected in the first week of July. This is a significant regional illustration of how the traditional banking sector's approach to regulated crypto services is consolidating rapidly ahead of the 1 July deadline.

TÝR Markets AS, which on 18 May received Norway's first MiCA CASP licence, continues its expansion into Sweden and Denmark via the passport mechanism. On Tuesday TÝR Markets announced a new cooperation with the SEB group's private banking service, under which SEB's high-net-worth customers will be able to access TÝR Markets' institutional liquidity flows. NBX, which retains its Oslo exchange listing, published a notice on Tuesday for an extraordinary general meeting on 12 June at which a NOK 180 million capital raise in connection with the costs of securing a MiCA licence will be decided.

Estonia - the second half of the Zondacrypto 30-day deadline

In Estonia, on the sidelines of the Tallinn conference, Andre Nõmm, Deputy Head of the Finantsinspektsioon, publicly confirmed that the review of compliance remediation by Zondacrypto operator BB Trade Estonia OÜ is in an active phase. On Tuesday 2 June, 15 of the 30-day deadline that ends on 17 June have elapsed. Nõmm stressed that the regulator is carefully evaluating the remediation plan submitted by the operator, focused on the delisting of the "TeamPL" token and on the introduction of additional mechanisms to comply with MiCA-compliant white paper requirements. The final decision will be announced within a week of the deadline expiring.

The situation of the Zondacrypto operator continues to attract broader regional attention - the platform has roughly 1.3 million users across Europe, of whom around 380,000 are in the Baltic region. After the partial suspension on 18 May, the operator has publicly maintained that the customer fund withdrawal process is functioning under standard procedures and that the regulator's notice does not apply to outflows. Tuesday's market reaction remains measured - a modest increase in regional customer transfers to fully MiCA-licensed alternative operators has been registered in June.

In the broader Estonian context the Tallinn conference is an important platform on which the Finantsinspektsioon publicly sets out its current policy approach. After the 2023 consolidation, Estonia's crypto operator market has shrunk from more than 300 registered operators to five active VASP operators, of which only one holds a full MiCA CASP licence. On Tuesday the Finantsinspektsioon announced that, after 1 July, VASP operators that have not obtained a licence will automatically have their previous authorisations withdrawn and a sixty-day customer fund return procedure will be imposed.

Latvia - the fifth CASP licence and Tallinn panels

In Latvia, Marina Krimuša, Head of the Financial Innovation Department at the Latvijas Banka, publicly confirmed on the Tallinn conference's first-day panel discussion that Latvia's fifth CASP licence will be announced in the first or second week of June. Krimuša stressed that the regulator is currently processing five active formal applications and 12 pre-submission consultation cases, pointing to a stable but careful onward issuance pipeline. This is the highest monthly licence issuance rhythm in the region in 2026.

On Tuesday the Latvijas Banka also published an updated version of its pre-submission consultation guidelines, clarifying the format for documentation of compliance with technological and cybersecurity requirements. The guidelines reflect the experience of the previous four licensing processes - the Latvijas Banka has found that around 60 percent of applications need additional documentary clarification in the technological security section. The guidelines will be published in Latvian and English and apply directly to operators from other Member States planning to use Latvia as their primary MiCA jurisdiction.

In the first-day afternoon panel discussion in Tallinn, Latvia's approach of a 12-month national transition period until 30 December was highlighted as a balanced middle path between Lithuania's narrower six-month approach and the 18-month grandfathering period in Estonia and Malta. Krimuša noted that this approach has provided the regulator with sufficient capacity for careful evaluation of each application while not creating market turbulence for customers. In May the Latvijas Banka issued a total of two CASP licences - SIA Paybis Europe on 12 May and Neverless SIA on 25 May.

Lithuania - market consolidation and the Tallinn panel discussion

Representatives of the Lietuvos bankas presented up-to-date data on the largest regional market consolidation process in the first-day panel discussion of the Tallinn conference. Of the roughly 370 to 800 registered virtual asset service providers under the previous national regime, MiCA CASP applications have been submitted by only around 32 operators, of which three have received a full licence - Robinhood Europe, Nuvei Liquidity and Decentralized (the Coingate brand). On Tuesday the Lietuvos bankas announced that two additional applications are in the final review phase, with decisions expected in the second week of June.

On Monday 1 June, the Lietuvos bankas published a renewed warning to investors to verify the MiCA status of their service provider before 1 July. On Tuesday's Tallinn conference panel, Lithuanian representatives set out the main supervisory priorities for the final weeks of the transition period - oversight of customer fund transfers, identification of unlicensed operator websites, and an automatic technical blocking mechanism to be activated after 1 July. The technical blocking mechanism will be coordinated with internet service providers across the European Union and with payment-system operators.

The Lietuvos bankas' approach remains markedly strict - the regulator has publicly warned that, after 1 July, unlicensed operators face large financial sanctions of up to 5 million euros, website blocking and, in some cases, criminal liability with potential imprisonment of up to four years for company managers. This aggressive approach contrasts with the dialogue-based style of Latvia and Finland but reflects Lithuania's historically larger market volume and accordingly broader consolidation needs.

Finland and Sweden - the stable regional core and the Bitwise expansion

In Finland, Coinmotion and Northcrypto continue to operate on previously granted MiCA CASP licences. On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Tallinn conference, Coinmotion's management announced a strategic partnership with two additional Swedish pension fund managers, extending access to MiCA-regulated digital asset products in private pension portfolios. Northcrypto continues to operate as one of Finland's most active crypto operators with a broad offering of more than 260 crypto assets in a MiCA-licensed environment. The Finanssivalvonta published a notice on Tuesday confirming that the Finnish transition period officially ends on 30 June.

In Sweden, Safello, which received Finansinspektionen's full MiCA authorisation in October 2025 as the first Swedish operator, continues active commercial operations. On Tuesday Safello published May's commercial statistics - the active user base has grown by eight percent compared with April, but the net revenue level still reflects the broader crypto market consolidation of early 2026. Safello's management also confirmed that a second strategic presentation on expansion into the Norwegian market via the MiCA passport mechanism will be published in June.

On Tuesday Bitwise's leadership presented new data at the first-day evening session of the Tallinn conference on the performance of the seven SEK-denominated crypto ETPs listed on Nasdaq Stockholm at the start of 2026. Over a five-month period the products have attracted around SEK 480 million in net inflows, exceeding Bitwise's initial projections by roughly 35 percent. Bitwise announced plans to extend the product range in July with two additional ETP products offering exposure to Ethereum and Solana with a physical custody structure.

Denmark - calm preparation and the TÝR Markets integration

In Denmark, the Finanstilsynet continues to use the full 18-month grandfathering period. On Tuesday, Denmark still has no nationally issued MiCA CASP licences - the market is based on operators passported from Norway (TÝR Markets, and Firi in awaited status), Finland (Coinmotion) and a few other EEA countries. In the first-day panel discussion in Tallinn, representatives of the Danish Finanstilsynet outlined the consultative approach and industry-dialogue orientation that reflect the traditionally moderate and dialogue-based style of Danish regulatory culture.

The Danish market on Tuesday focuses on TÝR Markets' expansion. The active operations of the Norwegian operator in the Danish market via the MiCA passport mechanism, launched at the end of May, continue with rising transaction volumes. This is the first broader passport-based merging of the Norwegian and Danish crypto sectors' activity and is potentially significant regional market integration that may influence other national operators' future strategic choices. On Tuesday Nasdaq Copenhagen announced a consultative working group on the listing of crypto ETP products, with the first meeting scheduled for July.

European context - MiCA review and the ESMA register update

In the broader European context, the European Commission's MiCA review consultation, opened on 20 May, continues - the consultation will be open until 31 August. Its results will form the basis for the first substantial review of the MiCA regime, scheduled for 2027. On Tuesday's first-day evening session in Tallinn, the main directions of regional industry organisations' formal submissions were presented - deposit guarantees for stablecoin issuers, acceleration of the public register of passport notifications, and capacity support mechanisms for small national regulators in cross-border crisis situations.

On Tuesday ESMA published an updated version of the interim CASP register. The register currently lists around 212 authorised operators across the European Economic Area, a slight increase from 207 operators a week earlier. ESMA's announcement emphasised that the interim csv-format register will run until mid-2026, when it will be fully integrated into ESMA's IT systems. This integration also envisages a public register of passport notifications, which will make it easier for operators and customers to verify cross-border services. Full integration is expected by the end of August 2026.

Market context and the week's agenda

In Tuesday's trading data Bitcoin holds the 74,200 US dollar zone after the most significant spring consolidation that took place in May. Ethereum trades close to USD 2,030, and the overall crypto market volume remains moderately stable. The regional crypto sector's market reaction remains measured - investors continue to focus on global macroeconomic factors and the US Federal Reserve's June meeting policy on the benchmark interest rate, which will significantly affect the overall picture for risk asset categories.

On Wednesday 3 June the HIPTHER conference continues with the second-day programme, focused on AI integration in compliance processes and technological solutions for cross-border supervision. On Thursday 4 June the Norwegian NBX extraordinary general meeting is scheduled. The end of the first week of June is expected to bring a possible Norwegian Finanstilsynet announcement on the outcome of the Firi application and the Latvijas Banka's fifth CASP licence decision. On 17 June the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit must take a final decision on the future status of Zondacrypto's operating authorisation.

Investors using Baltic or Nordic crypto exchanges are still advised, before 1 July, to verify the operator's MiCA licence status in the ESMA interim CASP register or in the relevant national regulator's register. That is the only safe guarantee that the service provider will be able to continue operating after the end of the transition period and that customer funds will be protected under the unified European Union regime. If an operator has not published a clear statement on its MiCA application status or transition plans, that is a justified warning sign for cautious customer behaviour.

Sources

• ESMA - Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) overview
• European Commission - Targeted consultation on the review of MiCA Regulation
• HIPTHER Baltics & Nordics: Tallinn 2026 Agenda
• Crypto.news - HIPTHER Baltics 2026: Powering iGaming, tech connections through 3 premier events
• Latvijas Banka - Crypto-asset service providers
• LSM - Latvian central bank issues fourth crypto licence