Exchanges Pay Users to Move Crypto Ahead of MiCA Deadline

Licensed crypto exchanges across Europe are offering cash bonuses, deposit matches and prize draws to persuade customers to move assets ahead of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules, which take full effect on July 1.

OKX Europe is offering an 8% deposit bonus to European Economic Area residents who migrate portfolios, covering on-chain transfers as well as SEPA and mobile-wallet payments through July 13. Coinbase is providing a 5% transfer bonus for Coinbase One subscribers in eight major markets including Germany, France and the UK. Kraken has started a 1 million-euro prize draw open to EEA customers who deposit funds before the end of July and is promoting its MiCA authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland alongside MiFID and e-money licenses. SwissBorg is offering a 3% deposit match specifically for transfers originating from non-MiCA exchanges.

MiCA creates a single market permission for firms with bloc-wide authorization and restricts platforms that operate only under older national regimes. Firms without a MiCA license will face limits on serving EU customers after July 1 and users on those platforms must choose whether to move assets to licensed venues, withdraw to self-custody wallets, or await wind-down instructions from their providers.

Industry estimates put the number of legacy crypto asset service providers at about 1,100 to 1,300, with roughly 200 holding valid MiCA licenses. OKX Europe has estimated that more than 80% of currently active regional exchanges could be forced to close once the new rules apply. In Lithuania, more than 240 digital-asset businesses closed after local transition periods expired last year.

Greek authorities rejected Binance’s MiCA application, prompting the exchange to issue withdrawal and service-modification instructions for customers in France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Binance noted that user assets remain fully backed and warned some clients could face service disruptions ahead of July 1. The European Securities and Markets Authority has warned that operating without authorization after the deadline would breach EU law and directed non-compliant firms to arrange orderly transfers to regulated platforms or to customer-controlled wallets.

OKX Chief Executive Star Xu wrote on X that a harmonized approach will ensure innovation, competition and growth are driven by product quality and customer value rather than differences in oversight. Infrastructure providers are offering compliant services: BitGo launched a MiCA-compliant Crypto-as-a-Service platform on June 17 to allow smaller firms to use regulated custody and execution while pursuing their own authorizations.

Exchanges are using promotional capital to convert short-term migrations into longer-term revenue sources such as trading fees, staking balances and subscriptions. Smaller operators facing the cost and complexity of MiCA authorization may seek partnerships, mergers or narrower business models to remain active in the market.