Only 7% of EU crypto firms hold MiCA licences

About 210 of the 2,747 Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPs) registered across the European Union in 2024 have obtained Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) licences ahead of the July 1, 2026 deadline. The licensed group represents roughly 7% of the previously registered universe, according to industry trackers and supervisory data.

Trackers counted 2,747 VASP registrations across the EU in 2024, with Poland accounting for more than 1,400 of those registrations. ChainScreen recorded about 183 authorised crypto-asset service providers in April 2026. A subsequent update from ITISPay put the total at roughly 210 by May 2026.

Estonia illustrates a sharp contraction. The country had 641 licensed VASPs in mid-2021; that number fell to 45 by October 2024 and to 40 by February 2025. In France, regulator checks found that about 30% of roughly 90 previously registered firms had applied for MiCA authorisation, about 40% did not intend to apply, and around 30% had not answered regulator enquiries.

MiCA requires firms to meet standards for governance, hold prudential capital, implement cybersecurity controls, provide client protections and engage in continuous supervisory dialogue. Industry representatives have said those fixed requirements increase costs for smaller operators because the rules apply the same way regardless of firm size.

Unlicensed firms face a small set of options after July 1: obtain a licence, stop operating, carry out an orderly wind-down, transfer clients to an authorised CASP, or merge with a licence-holder. French authorities have warned that operating without authorisation can lead to criminal prosecution.

Firms that have secured licences report commercial effects. The CEO of Madrid-based Fazil Crypto reported heavy inbound interest after the firm’s Spanish CASP licence was published, including approaches from exchanges, payment companies, law firms, M&A advisers, entrepreneurs with crypto projects and companies outside Europe.

A tracker of initial authorisations recorded 39 CASP licences and 14 stablecoin issuer approvals among the first 54 grants in early 2026. The rate of approvals has increased since then but remains far below the number of firms that registered under national regimes before MiCA.

Law firms monitoring the market transition expect a wave of consolidation in the second half of 2026 as smaller and mid-sized players seek mergers, acquisitions or orderly exits. Recent EU licensing rules and capital requirements have been cited by advisers as factors that favour larger, better-capitalised operators.