The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, entered full application on July 1, 2026, ending the transition period that allowed crypto firms to keep operating under older national rules. One week later, the early picture is already clear: 21 electronic money token (EMT) issuers have been authorized, more than 270 crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) are registered, and the asset-referenced token (ART) category still has no approved issuer at all.
EMT approvals rise, but the ART framework remains unused
Patrick Hansen, Circle’s Senior Director of EU Strategy and Policy, cited interim registration data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) showing that the EU now has 21 authorized EMT issuers across 12 member states. Together they have issued 35 EMTs. That is up from 19 issuers reported in March 2026, and the number of pricing denominations has expanded from five earlier in the year to eight.
France remains the leading jurisdiction, with 6 regulated issuers under the ACPR. The Netherlands, Malta, Lithuania, and Luxembourg each host 2 issuers. Germany, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Poland, and the Czech Republic each have 1 licensed issuer. Euro-denominated tokens still dominate the list. Dollar-pegged products follow, while smaller groups are tied to the British pound, Czech koruna, Swiss franc, Polish zloty, Swedish krona, and Romanian leu.
Hansen also highlighted a much narrower point of compliance at the global level. Of the world’s 50 largest stablecoins by market capitalization, only USDC, USDG, and EURC currently meet MiCA’s standards. At the same time, the ART segment remains empty more than two years after the framework for that category took effect. ARTs are designed around baskets of assets or single non-currency assets such as gold, and they occupy a major place in MiCA’s Titles III and IV. Yet approvals remain at zero, suggesting that practical or structural barriers are still limiting adoption.
Kraken reportedly targets Lithuania for an EU banking license
A separate report, citing people familiar with the matter, said Kraken is pursuing a full European banking license and sees Lithuania as its primary jurisdiction. If approval is granted, Kraken would become the first crypto exchange to hold an EU banking license. That would allow the company to move beyond exchange services and potentially offer products such as bank accounts and consumer loans across the European Economic Area.
Kraken declined to comment on the report, while the Central Bank of Lithuania said its approval procedures are confidential. Kraken CEO Arjun Sethi has previously described a long-term plan to secure financial licenses across several regions, either by acquiring existing institutions or by applying directly. The exchange already holds an Electronic Money Institution license in Ireland and is registered as a CASP under MiCA, giving it an existing compliance base inside the bloc.
EU lawmakers shift focus to DeFi, staking, and NFTs
Shortly after the transition period closed, members of the European Parliament adopted a report titled “Digital Assets – Challenges to the Competitiveness and Integrity of the EU Financial System.” The report does not change MiCA and does not impose new legal duties, but it formally asks the European Commission to assess whether decentralized finance, staking, crypto lending and borrowing, and NFTs require dedicated regulatory treatment. Lawmakers also warned that uneven enforcement across member states could weaken the EU’s single market for digital assets.
This discussion had already been building. In May 2026, the European Commission opened a public consultation on whether MiCA should be expanded to cover more crypto activities and whether current restrictions on interest-bearing stablecoins should be relaxed. No fresh legislative proposal has been introduced yet, so any rule change would take time, but the policy direction is becoming easier to read.
Euro stablecoins grow as users recheck exchange authorization
Market data is moving alongside the regulatory rollout. Payments firm Decta said the combined market capitalization of 8 MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins rose from $295.6 million to $673.9 million over the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2026, a gain of 128%. Trading volume across those tokens increased 43.1% during the same period. The number of compliant euro stablecoins with active market data also expanded from 5 to 8. According to Decta, EURC, EURCV, and EURI accounted for most of that growth.
The end of the transition period is also changing user behavior. BNB Chain recently published guidance showing European users how to move funds from centralized exchanges into self-custody wallets and connect directly to decentralized applications. The reason is simple: traders are now checking which exchanges still hold valid CASP authorization and which tokens are likely to remain available in the EU market.