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Crypto exchanges 01.07: the MiCA era begins in the EEA

Wednesday, 1 July, was the first day of the full MiCA regime in all 30 EEA countries. Binance officially discontinued services for EU users, Estonia cancelled the old FIU licences, while Latvijas Banka closed June with licences for TWINO Investments and Kanga. Nordic exchanges Firi, Coinmotion and Northcrypto continue operating with licences. Bitcoin fell to 57,950 dollars - its lowest level in 652 days.

Toms Ābeltiņš

2 July 20266 min read

Wednesday, 1 July: the first day of the full MiCA regime across the EEA. Only about 230 firms hold a CASP licence out of more than 1,200 former platforms. Binance discontinued services for EU users, Estonia cancelled the old FIU licences, and Latvijas Banka issued June licences to TWINO Investments and Kanga. Bitcoin fell to 57,950 dollars - the lowest level in 652 days after its worst month since 2022.

Wednesday, 1 July 2026, was the first day on which crypto-asset services across the entire European Economic Area could only be provided by companies holding a full MiCA licence. The eighteen-month transition period has ended in all 30 countries, and users in the Baltics and the Nordics entered the new era with a comparatively solid line-up of licensed exchanges. The day also carried a symbolic contrast: while the regulated market began operating under uniform rules, the Bitcoin price fell to its lowest level in more than 21 months.

The MiCA era has begun: around 230 licensed firms

From 1 July, every crypto-asset service provider in the European Union and the EEA must hold a CASP (Crypto-Asset Service Provider) licence in at least one member state. MiCA's transitional provisions, which allowed legacy platforms to operate under national registrations, expired on 30 June, and ESMA has confirmed there will be no extension. As of the end of June, roughly 230 CASP licences had been issued across the EU, whereas more than 1,200 firms operated under national VASP registrations before MiCA. That means only about a fifth of the former market participants enter the new regime.

Supervisors now also have real enforcement tools: administrative fines under Article 111 of MiCA can reach 15 million euros or 12.5 percent of annual turnover, whichever is greater. Any company that keeps serving EU clients without a licence must cease immediately.

Binance's first day outside the EU

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, officially discontinued most services for EU users on 1 July. After withdrawing its MiCA application in Greece on 24 June, the exchange was left without a licence and no longer offers EU clients new trading orders, deposits, registrations or Earn products. Withdrawals remain open throughout the wind-down, and the company stresses that client assets are safe. Binance plans its next licensing attempt in France and promises to return to Europe within the coming months, but for now its users in the region face one practical question: switch to a licensed exchange or move funds to a self-custody wallet.

Estonia cancels the old licences

The most visible 1 July event in the Baltics came from Estonia. Finantsinspektsioon and the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) announced on 30 June that from 1 July crypto-asset services in Estonia may only be provided by companies holding a MiCA authorisation issued by Finantsinspektsioon or by the supervisory authority of another EEA state. The old FIU virtual-currency service-provider licence records are cancelled on 1 July. This formally closes Estonia's earlier era, when the country led Europe in the number of registered crypto firms. Only a small number of companies have obtained full MiCA authorisation in Estonia; the first standalone CASP is Lightspark Payments Europe, which simultaneously received an e-money institution authorisation.

Latvia closes June with new licences

Latvijas Banka continued expanding the circle of licensed firms in June. On 4 June, AS TWINO Investments received authorisation to provide crypto-asset services, including custody and administration of crypto-assets, and on 18 June a licence was granted to SIA AlphaRoute, operating under the Kanga brand, which will offer custody, trading and transfer services across the EU. The regulator has 15 companies in the active licensing stage and another 29 in pre-licensing consultations. Latvia thus enters the new era as one of the most active licensing hubs in the region, competing with Lithuania, where major international players also operate under Bank of Lithuania authorisations.

The Nordics meet the new regime prepared

The largest Nordic exchanges reached the deadline with licences in hand. Finland's Coinmotion obtained its CASP authorisation from FIN-FSA back in September 2025, and Northcrypto followed in November. Norway's Firi, the largest crypto exchange in the Nordics with more than 400,000 users, became in May the first Norwegian CASP authorised to operate a crypto-asset trading platform and can now work across the EEA. Among global platforms, Kraken, Coinbase and OKX have also secured licences and are openly positioning themselves to take over the market share left behind by Binance in the Nordics and the Baltics.

In Sweden, the new era is accompanied by infrastructure news as well: June saw the market debut of AllUnity's SEKAU, the first MiCA-compliant Swedish krona stablecoin, fully backed by krona reserves and available on five blockchain networks. The issuer promises to add another five to six currencies by autumn.

Market backdrop: Bitcoin's lowest level in 652 days

The first day of the new era was a heavy one for the market. Bitcoin traded around 58,300 dollars on 1 July, dipping to 57,950 dollars during the day - its lowest level in 652 days. June closed with a drop of roughly 20 percent, making it Bitcoin's worst month since June 2022. Bitcoin's market capitalisation stands at about 1.33 trillion dollars, and market sentiment remains in the extreme-fear zone. Analysts note that regulatory clarity in Europe could support institutional demand over the long term, but in the short term the market is driven by global risk appetite, not the MiCA calendar.

What day one means for users

For users in the Baltics and the Nordics, the new regime means three practical things. First, the licence status of any platform can and should now be checked in official registers - ESMA's interim register or the public lists of Latvijas Banka, the Bank of Lithuania, Finantsinspektsioon and FIN-FSA. Second, transactions on an unlicensed platform now take place outside the EU legal framework and without consumer-protection mechanisms, so funds should be moved off such venues in good time. Third, stablecoin line-ups on licensed exchanges will keep changing: USDT has been removed from regulated EU platforms, and its place is being taken by MiCA-compliant alternatives such as USDC and EURC.

For a region with a comparatively large number of licensed local exchanges, the transition has so far been calmer than elsewhere in Europe. In the coming weeks, the decisive question will be how quickly regulators begin to act against platforms that ignored the deadline.

Norriwire Briefing