ESMA Adds 37 Crypto Firms to MiCA Register After Transitional Period Ends

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published the first update to its register of crypto companies under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) after the transitional period ended Wednesday. According to Cointelegraph, the update released Friday added 37 newly licensed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), including global banking group Standard Chartered, which secured MiCA authorization from Luxembourg regulators on June 25. The latest additions also include digital asset prime brokerage FalconX, Sygnum Europe and Ronin EM. ESMA’s interim MiCA register now lists 280 CASPs, up from 243 in the previous update published June 26. The register of electronic money tokens (EMTs) also added Crédit Agricole’s CACEIS.

Standard Chartered said it was also granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license, allowing it to issue electronic money and provide payment services, which the bank announced on Monday. “Securing our MiCA and EMI licences is a key step in progressing our digital asset journey in Europe,” said Margaret Harwood-Jones, Standard Chartered’s global head of financing. The bank said the approvals build on recent milestones, including the launch of digital asset custody services in Asia and the Middle East, and are intended to support growing client demand for regulated access to digital assets in Europe. In the latest wave of MiCA authorizations, Cyprus recorded the highest number of newly listed CASPs with six, followed by France with five, alongside Italy and Malta with five each. The Czech Republic and Spain added four CASPs each, Luxembourg accounted for three listings, and the Netherlands added two, while Germany, Liechtenstein and Latvia each recorded one new entry. The update brought the total number of MiCA authorizations granted by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission to 21, while Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority remained the EU authority with the most MiCA authorizations at 58. ESMA reported no changes to the register of asset-referenced tokens, which continued to show no approved issuers, and no changes to the list of non-compliant entities, which remained at 162.