Germany’s authorized CASPs rise to 79 as six cooperative banks join EU register

The European Securities and Markets Authority has updated its register under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, lifting the number of authorized crypto-asset service providers in the EU to 331. All six new additions are German cooperative banks: Raiffeisenbank Aidlingen, Ihre Volksbank, VR-Bank Mittelfranken Mitte, Volksbank Euskirchen, VR Bank Ried-Überwald and Volksbank Backnang. Germany now has 79 authorized crypto-asset service providers. France has 35, and the Netherlands has 29. Germany had 57 crypto-asset service providers at the end of June, when it already ranked first in the EU. Since then, the number has continued to rise. Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority previously said the country’s lead is tied to its large financial sector and the high number of credit institutions qualified to provide crypto services. It also said that both the national licensing regime and the transition period are playing a role, with some crypto-asset service providers able to obtain authorization through a simplified process. In the same update, the register for asset-referenced tokens remained empty, the electronic money token register stayed at 43 entries, and the list of non-compliant entities remained at 167.