What a MiCA licence means
MiCA is the EU regulation on markets in crypto-assets. Anyone in the EU who holds crypto for clients, exchanges it or executes buy and sell orders needs to be authorised as a crypto-asset service provider (CASP). The licence is granted by a national supervisor, such as BaFin in Germany or the AFM in the Netherlands, and then applies across the whole EU.
Providers that were already active had transition periods of different lengths depending on the country. The last one ended on 1 July 2026. Since then the rule has no exceptions: without a licence, a provider may no longer offer crypto services to clients in the EU.
Among other things, a licence requires:
- Segregated custody: client crypto assets must be kept separate from the exchange’s own assets, so they don’t end up in the insolvency estate if the exchange goes bust (Art. 70 and 75 MiCA).
- Complaints handling: every provider must handle complaints under fixed rules (Art. 71 MiCA).
- Supervision: an authority checks management, capital and processes, and can withdraw the licence.
Licensed exchanges at a glance
These are the six providers we have reviewed so far. All of them are in the ESMA register. “Real cost” shows what a buy followed by an immediate sell costs in total, i.e. fee and spread. “Study” means measured in 432 test trades of €100 and €500 (Frankfurt School Blockchain Center and intas.tech, January to February 2026). “Calculated” means derived from the provider’s published fees.
| Provider | Regulator | Real cost (buy + sell) | Crypto assets | Savings plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitvavo | AFM · Netherlands | 0.53 %study | 450 | from €5.00 |
| BISON | BaFin · Germany | 2.50 %calculated · BTC/ETH | 63 | from €0.01 |
| Trade Republic | BaFin · Germany | 2.77 %study | 50 | from €1.00 |
| Bitpanda | FMA · Austria | 4.99 %study | n/a | from €10.00 |
| Kraken | Central Bank of Ireland · Ireland | 5.92 %study | n/a | Yes |
| Coinbase | CSSF · Luxembourg | 6.45 %study | n/a | Yes |
What the table alone doesn’t show:
- Bitvavo was by far the cheapest in the study (0.53 %). It also offers around 450 crypto assets and a savings plan from €5.
- Trade Republic charges €1 per buy or sell; savings plans are free and start at €1. With larger amounts, the percentage falls because the fee is fixed.
- BISON charges no order fee but earns on the spread: on average 1.25 % per side for Bitcoin and Ether, 1.75 % for other assets.
- Kraken and Coinbase were the most expensive in their simple apps. Both have a pro interface with an order book (Kraken Pro, Coinbase Advanced), which the providers say is cheaper. We have not measured those yet.
- Bitpanda came in at 4.99 % in the study. For Bitcoin, Bitpanda states a premium of 0.99 % per buy or sell, included in the price.
How we weigh costs, offering and licence is explained in our methodology.
What users report about these exchanges
We don’t have our own test accounts with these providers yet. So we show what other users rate publicly: the average scores on Trustpilot and in the German App Store, and the complaint that comes up most often in recent reviews.
| Provider | Trustpilot | App Store (DE) | Most common complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| BISON | 3.9 | 4.6 | Transfers sometimes take several weeks |
| Bitpanda | 4.1 | 4.7 | High spreads when buying and selling |
| Bitvavo | 4.1 | 4.5 | Accounts get restricted for anti-money-laundering checks; withdrawals stay blocked until resolved |
| Coinbase | 4.0 | 4.4 | Accounts get locked without a clear explanation |
| Kraken | 3.2 | 4.5 | Account locks, often after the first deposit or after transfers from someone else’s account |
| Trade Republic | 4.6 | 4.6 | Many things only work in the app; the desktop version lacks features |
As of: 5 October 2026. Review sites are not representative: unhappy customers write more often, and providers that invite customers get more good reviews. We don't verify whether individual reviews are genuine. These voices never feed into our cost data or a score.
Three patterns stand out:
- Account locks during anti-money-laundering checks are the most common complaint, at almost every provider. Licensed exchanges must check where money comes from and lock accounts until the check is done. Several Kraken users report locks after transfers from someone else’s bank account. Always deposit from an account in your own name.
- App ratings are much better than Trustpilot ratings. App Store reviews mostly come from people who use the app every day; Trustpilot attracts a lot of people who had a problem. Half of Kraken’s Trustpilot reviews give one star; at Coinbase it’s 43 %.
- Many people only notice high spreads when they sell. At Bitpanda this is a recurring complaint, which matches the measured costs in the table above.
How to check a licence yourself
Fraudulent platforms like to copy well-known names. Checking takes only a few minutes:
- Open the ESMA MiCA page and download the list of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). It’s a spreadsheet you can open with any spreadsheet program.
- Search for the legal entity, not the brand. In the register, Kraken is “Payward Europe Solutions Limited”, for example. You’ll find the entity in the exchange’s imprint or terms.
- Compare the website in the register with the address in your browser. If the domain differs, you may be on a fake site.
- Check the services. Letter “a” stands for custody. Without it, the provider may not hold your crypto for you.
Other licensed providers we haven’t reviewed yet
The register has more than 350 entries, including many banks and small specialist providers. These well-known exchanges and apps are licensed too. We haven’t reviewed their costs and offerings yet, so they appear here without a rating and without a link.
| Brand | Legal entity in the register | Supervisor | Licensed since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bybit | Bybit EU GmbH | FMA (Austria) | 28 May 2025 |
| OKX | OKX Europe Limited | MFSA (Malta) | 27 Jan 2025 |
| Crypto.com | Foris DAX MT Limited | MFSA (Malta) | 27 Jan 2025 |
| Gemini | Gemini Intergalactic EU Ltd | MFSA (Malta) | 21 Aug 2025 |
| Bitstamp | Bitstamp Europe S.A. | CSSF (Luxembourg) | 15 May 2025 |
| KuCoin EU | KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH | FMA (Austria) | 27 Nov 2025 |
| Revolut | Revolut Digital Assets (Europe) Ltd | CySEC (Cyprus) | 20 Oct 2025 |
| N26 | N26 Bank SE | BaFin (Germany) | 14 May 2025 |
| 21bitcoin | FIOR Digital GmbH | FMA (Austria) | 27 Nov 2025 |
Source: ESMA register, as of 31 August 2026. A licence can be withdrawn, so always check the current status before opening an account.
How we choose
We only include providers that are in the ESMA register. Every value in our comparison has a source and a date. Where we can’t back up a value, we show “n/a” and don’t guess. We currently have no advertising agreement with any of the providers named here. If that changes, we will label the links as ads. More on this under how we make money.
FAQ
Which crypto exchanges have a MiCA licence?
The ESMA register lists more than 350 authorised crypto-asset service providers. They include Bitvavo (AFM, Netherlands), Bitpanda (FMA, Austria), Kraken (Central Bank of Ireland), Coinbase (CSSF, Luxembourg), and Trade Republic and BISON (both BaFin, Germany). Bybit EU, OKX, Crypto.com, Bitstamp and KuCoin EU are listed too.
Is my money safe with a licensed exchange?
Safer than with an unlicensed one, but not risk-free. MiCA requires, for example, that client crypto assets are held separately from the exchange’s own assets. There is no deposit guarantee for crypto like there is for bank deposits, and no licence protects you from price falls.
Can I still use Binance in the EU?
Binance has no MiCA licence and has not accepted new EU customers since July 2026. According to Binance, existing balances can still be withdrawn. See our guide to Binance alternatives for licensed options.
How do I check whether an exchange is licensed?
Open the ESMA MiCA page, download the list of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and search for the company name. What matters is the legal entity you sign the contract with. You find it in the imprint or terms, and it often differs from the brand name.
Sources
- Interim MiCA register: list of authorised crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), as of 31 Aug 2026
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA)
- MiCAR-Übergangsfrist endet am 1. Juli 2026 (in German)
- Study on trading costs of crypto providers (432 test trades, January to February 2026)
- Review profiles of the six providers (linked individually in the “What users report” table)
- App ratings in the German App Store (linked individually in the same table)