Germany Bafin grants a Crypto license to negotiate the Republic in the middle of slow MICA deployment
The European REPUBLIC TRADE giant obtained a complete license from the German financial regulator (BAFIN) to provide cryptography services. With this decision, he became the last company to obtain a license under the Cryptographic Assets Market (Mica).
According to the main director of Circle for EU strategy and policy, Patrick Hansen, Who shared the development on X, the company is now authorized to hold cryptographic assets, execute prescriptions, receive and transmit orders and provide crypto transfers on behalf of customers.
The license allows Trade Republic to offer all these cryptography services in the 30 European countries of the Economic Area (EEE). However, it would always be based on trading platforms and market manufacturers to execute the professions.
Hansen described this decision as a proof of how the region's financial institutions are already making efforts to obtain a license under the Mica before the end of the transition period.
He said:
“The race is activated: Neobanks, brokers, other fintechs and even traditional banks move quickly to secure their mica licenses before the end of transition periods.”
The transition period for the unifying regulations of cryptography for Europe is when cryptographic entities can work without mica licenses in the EU. It should end by the beginning of July 2026 or until the regulator grants or refuses the authorization of the companies which applied.
Trade Republic is one of the main online brokers in Europe, with more than 100 billion assets under management and eight million customers in several European countries. It spread to Italy earlier this year.
25 companies have obtained mica licenses
Meanwhile, Trade Republic obtains authorization to offer Bafin cryptography services means that 25 companies have now obtained licenses as part of the Mica. This underlines how slow the license process in Europe, since the Mica entered into force in December 2024.
It was feared that the regulatory approach in the region could harm its efforts to attract cryptographic entities, especially when other Asian regulators, the United States and the Middle East have become more permissive in the industry.
However, it seems that companies are still trying to comply with new regulatory standards in Europe. Interestingly, the German financial regulator directs the approval rate, the Bafin authorizing nine from the 25 countries. Hansen noted that it is 36% of all cryptography service providers on the continent.
Until now, the biggest name to obtain a license seems to be a circle, the USDC transmitter Stablecoin. The company remains the only global transmitter of Stablecoin under Mica license after obtaining authorization as a establishment of electronic money from the French ACPR, allowing it to issue USDC and EURC.
The other crypto companies that have obtained licenses include OKX, Bitgo Europe, Moonpay, Hidden Road, Socios.com and Bitstaete have also obtained licenses. Interestingly, Ripple recently bought Hidden Road, likely to have easier access to European markets.
Potential mica impacts in the European cryptography sector
While some major crypto companies already have mica licenses, others, such as Binance, Kraken, Robinhood and Tether, are currently not authorized in the region. Although most of them started the demand process, there is a risk that some of these companies do not work in Europe.
Tether, for example, has already decided not to obtain a Mica license for its stablecoin USDT, saying that the requirements are dangerous for stablecoins. This made platforms that comply with Mica in the region that set up USDT.
However, it is not only the big companies that this affects. Some experts believe that mica could leave lasting damage on the scene of cryptographic startups in Europe, because most startups may not comply with license standards or be able to bear the cost of the process.
Cryptographic lawyer Ilja Nikiforov provided that around 75% of European registered cryptocurrency companies would lose their recording by mid-2012 if they could not obtain a Mica license. He added that the financing of European crypto startups decreased by more than 90% compared to the 2022 summit.
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