Kanga Exchange EU - Latvia's 7th MiCA CASP

What happened

On 18 June 2026, the Supervision Committee of Latvijas Banka issued SIA AlphaRoute a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) licence. The official announcement was published on the Bank of Latvia website on 19 June 2026. This is the seventh authorisation for the provision of crypto-asset services issued by Latvijas Banka, following BlockBen SIA (2025-12-03), Nexdesk SIA (2025-12-10), SIA Paybis Europe (2026-05-12), Neverless SIA (2026-05-20), Trek Technologies SIA / Backpack EU (2026-05-27) and AS TWINO Investments (2026-06-04).

As reported by the industry outlet Bitcoin.pl, there is a well-known brand behind SIA AlphaRoute: the company operates as Kanga Exchange EU under the domain kangaexchange.eu. It is the European Union entity of the established Polish crypto exchange Kanga Exchange, obtaining a MiCA licence to continue operating within the EU's unified framework.

The company: who is Kanga Exchange

Kanga Exchange was founded in 2018 in Gdańsk, Poland. Its founders are Sławomir Zawadzki and Łukasz Żeligowski - entrepreneurs with a background in technology and fintech. Over the years Kanga has grown into one of Central Europe's best-known crypto exchanges, with an extensive network of physical cash-exchange points. According to public data, the group employs around 78 people (April 2026).

The CEO of the EU entity SIA AlphaRoute is Dominik Tomczyk. He notes that the licensing process was a multi-month effort involving compliance, finance, technology and security teams as well as external law firms: "It was not an easy process for the entire organisation. A dedicated team was set up that engaged experts from many fields - from finance to IT."

On the choice of jurisdiction, Tomczyk explains: "Among the many jurisdictions we analysed, Latvia became a natural choice. We started the pre-licensing process there in November 2025, already with our documentation ready." The company also took part in the Bank of Latvia's pre-licensing consultations.

Licensed services

The MiCA CASP licence allows SIA AlphaRoute to provide six services:

• custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients;
• operation of a crypto-asset trading platform;
• exchange of crypto-assets for funds;
• exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets;
• placing of crypto-assets;
• transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients.

Why the trading-platform service matters

Among all seven crypto-asset service providers licensed in Latvia, AlphaRoute is the only one whose authorisation explicitly includes the operation of a crypto-asset trading platform. This is logical given that Kanga has historically operated as an exchange. The other Latvian CASPs focus on different segments: BlockBen on token issuance, Nexdesk on B2B OTC, Paybis Europe on B2B2C white-label, Neverless on zero-fee retail trading, Backpack EU on a Solana-first exchange, and TWINO Investments on a combination with an investment-firm licence.

Products and platform

Kanga Exchange offers a broad product ecosystem that goes beyond a simple exchange:

• Spot market with 200+ trading pairs and around 195 cryptocurrencies;
• Kanga Futures with leverage up to 100x (settlement token KXT);
• KangaStarter - a launchpad for new blockchain projects (100+ sales);
• Kanga Cash - a cash OTC network with 800+ points and 200,000+ OTC transactions completed;
• Kanga Pay - payment solutions for merchants and customers;
• Kanga Wallet - a mobile app (iOS and Android);
• Kanga University - a free education platform (150 lessons);
• its own KNG token, which reduces fees.

The standard trading fee is 0.2%, reducible with the KNG token to 0.16% / 0.09% / 0.03%. Deposits are possible via bank transfer, BLIK (in Poland), ZEN and cryptocurrencies.

EU passport and the MiCA context

By obtaining authorisation in one EU member state, a crypto-asset service provider can offer services across the EU and the European Economic Area under the cross-border notification mechanism. In practice this means access to all 30 EEA countries (27 EU member states plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). For Kanga, the Latvian licence is a way to preserve and expand its EU operations after the MiCA transition period.

The Latvian CASP landscape

AlphaRoute joining as the seventh licence strengthens Latvia's position as one of the most active Baltic MiCA hubs. The seven licensed companies represent structurally distinct segments - token issuance, OTC, white-label infrastructure, retail trading, an investment-firm combination, and now a fully fledged exchange with a trading platform. The fact that an established regional exchange like Kanga chooses Latvia as its EU base is further confirmation of the appeal of the Bank of Latvia's licensing process.

What still needs clarifying about the EU operation

Although Kanga Exchange is an established exchange with an operating history since 2018, some data specifically about its EU entity (SIA AlphaRoute / Kanga Exchange EU) under MiCA is still being clarified. At the time of writing, the following are not publicly available:

• the total number of registered users (Kanga does not publicly disclose this metric);
• detailed financial statements and capital base of SIA AlphaRoute;
• a public Proof of Reserves;
• the specific service terms and changes for Kanga Exchange EU (kangaexchange.eu) that the company has promised to communicate to clients through official channels.

The fees, products and statistics above refer to Kanga Exchange's main platform; the exact scope of the EU entity's offering will be clarified after official announcements. Norriwire will update this article as soon as official register entries and Kanga Exchange EU communications appear.

What to watch next

• ESMA Interim MiCA Register - an entry with a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is usually added 7-14 days after a national licence.
• Bank of Latvia market-participant register - the official entry with the registration number.
• Kanga Exchange EU official communications - the announcements promised to clients about EU service terms.
• kangaexchange.eu - the launch of the EU platform and its feature set.

Sources

• Bitcoin.pl - SIA AlphaRoute (Kanga Exchange EU) receives a MiCA licence from the Bank of Latvia (19.06.2026)
• Latvijas Banka - Latvijas Banka is issuing a licence to SIA AlphaRoute for the provision of crypto-asset services (19.06.2026)
• Kanga Exchange - official website
• Kanga Cash - cash OTC network
• ESMA - Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA)