Crypto exchanges 24.06: six days to MiCA

Wednesday, 24 June 2026 passed in the crypto market under a single question: how many exchanges will manage to sort out their authorisations before the end of the European MiCA regulation's transition period. Six days remain until the deadline, and the latest data from European supervisors shows clearly how large a share of the industry has yet to obtain a licence. At the same time, in the wider market Bitcoin stayed under pressure as fund outflows continued.

Six days to the MiCA deadline

The MiCA transition period in the European Union closes on 30 June, and from 1 July every provider offering crypto-asset exchange, custody or other services in the European Economic Area will need a full crypto-asset service provider, or CASP, licence. The deadline is final, and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) confirmed back in spring that there will be no extension.

The latest published figures illustrate the scale of the transition. According to ESMA, around 210 providers had obtained full authorisation by May, while more than 1,200 firms previously held national registrations across the member states. This means a large share of legacy operators will either leave the European market or be forced to suspend activity while they secure a licence.

Binance still without authorisation in any member state

Attention remains firmly on Binance, the world's largest exchange by volume, which by the deadline still has no MiCA licence in any European Union member state. According to media reports, the exchange's application to the Greek market regulator is heading towards rejection, and without authorisation in a member state Binance will not be able to serve clients across the bloc from July.

Attention has now shifted to France, where Binance has been registered as a digital-asset service provider since 2022. That older registration, however, does not grant the right to operate across the European Union, and progress on a full MiCA application is complicated by an ongoing French investigation into suspected money laundering. As a result, the time for Binance to become a licensed European operator before 30 June has grown extremely tight.

The Nordics: licensed operators already prepared

In contrast to the uncertainty around Binance, several local operators in the region have already secured their future. In Sweden, the supervisor Finansinspektionen has granted a MiCA CASP authorisation to Safello, which with more than 425,000 users is one of the largest crypto platforms in the Nordics. The licence allows Safello to continue operating and to build a foundation for expanding services across the European Economic Area.

The Norwegian exchange Firi received its MiCA CASP authorisation from the Norwegian financial supervisory authority Finanstilsynet back in May and uses the passporting mechanism to expand into other countries, including entering the Swedish market. Finland is home to several licensed providers, including Coinmotion, which obtained its authorisation last year, and Northcrypto. These examples show that Nordic operators have prepared for the MiCA regime in good time.

The Baltics: steady but cautious progress

In the Baltic states the picture remains uneven but is moving forward. According to the ESMA register, both Latvia and Lithuania have so far issued around six CASP licences each. In Latvia the transition period ended back in late 2025, and Latvijas Banka is issuing licences gradually, while in Lithuania supervision is handled by the Bank of Lithuania. Estonia, historically one of the largest issuers of crypto licences, has been more cautious under the new regime, as old authorisations are not automatically converted and companies must meet stricter requirements.

For users in the region the key practical advice remains unchanged: before the deadline it is worth checking your operator's MiCA licence status in the European CASP register or on the national regulator's list. Those using exchanges without a clear licence status may want to consider already-licensed alternative providers in the region.

Market: Bitcoin under outflow pressure

In the wider market, 24 June brought a cautious mood. Bitcoin traded around the 63,000 dollar zone, well below the record near 77,600 dollars reached on 25 May. The main source of pressure remained US-listed Bitcoin funds, which over recent weeks experienced one of the largest sustained outflows of the year, totalling several billion dollars.

At the same time, the first signs of possible easing appeared. On 23 June these funds posted a small net inflow for the first time after several weeks, which is too small to call a trend reversal but may suggest that the pace of institutional selling is starting to slow. Market participants continue to watch signals from the US Federal Reserve and bond yields, which influence appetite for risk assets.

What to watch in the coming days

In the final days before 1 July three questions will matter most: whether Binance can still reach an agreement in a member state, what the final licensing decisions of the region's regulators will be, and how durable the market's stabilisation proves. Investors using Baltic or Nordic crypto exchanges are still advised to confirm their operator's licence status before the new regulatory phase begins.

Sources

• ESMA - Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) overview
• Latvijas Banka - Crypto-asset service providers
• Bank of Lithuania - Authorisation of crypto-asset service providers
• Finanssivalvonta - Crypto-asset service providers (FIN-FSA)
• Euronews - Europe's crypto reset: MiCA creates a single market as hundreds of firms face exit
• BeInCrypto - EU Central Bank President Reportedly Blocked Binance in Greece, Will France Approve?