Standard Chartered wins MiCA passport as EU approves 57 firms

Standard Chartered has secured a MiCA passport as the European Securities and Markets Authority has added 57 newly authorized crypto firms to its register following the end of the EU’s transition period.

According to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), its latest interim register now lists 300 authorized crypto-asset service providers, up from 243 on June 26, after a wave of approvals arrived around the July 1 Markets in Crypto-Assets deadline.

The updated list includes major banks, institutional trading firms, and digital asset companies that can now offer regulated services across the European Union under a single authorization.

Standard Chartered joins expanding MiCA register

Among the biggest additions is Standard Chartered, which received MiCA authorization from Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), on June 25.

The bank also obtained an Electronic Money Institution license, allowing it to use MiCA’s passporting system to provide crypto services throughout all 27 EU member states without seeking separate approvals in each country.

Institutional crypto trading firm FalconX also entered the register after receiving authorization from Malta’s Financial Services Authority shortly before the July 1 deadline.

ESMA’s latest update further added digital asset bank Sygnum Europe, Ronin EM, and CACEIS, the asset servicing business owned by Crédit Agricole and Santander.

Separately, crypto.news recently reported that CACEIS is in exclusive talks to acquire French crypto investment platform Meria, a deal that would add a retail crypto business with about 150,000 users and roughly €350 million in assets under management. The reported discussions followed Meria’s own MiCA CASP authorization in France.

Recent approvals have also extended beyond traditional financial institutions. As crypto.news previously reported, Stripe-owned Bridge secured both MiCA CASP authorization and an Electronic Money Institution license in Luxembourg, enabling the company to provide regulated crypto services across the European Union under the same passporting framework.

MiCA deadline has reshaped Europe’s regulated crypto market

The surge in approvals followed the end of MiCA’s transitional period on July 1, 2026. During that grace period, crypto companies already operating in individual EU countries could continue serving customers while applying for full authorization.

With the transition now complete, firms that failed to obtain a MiCA license must stop onboarding new customers and begin winding down regulated operations within the bloc. ESMA’s updated register provides public confirmation of which providers have completed the authorization process.

MiCA establishes a single regulatory framework covering crypto exchanges, custody providers, portfolio managers, and crypto-asset issuers across the European Union. Under its passporting rules, authorization from one national regulator, such as Luxembourg’s CSSF or Malta’s MFSA, gives firms access to customers across the entire bloc.

The new regulatory environment has already produced visible market changes. As crypto.news reported, Tether’s $186 billion USDT no longer has a MiCA-compliant route to remain on regulated EU exchanges following the July 1 deadline.

Consequently, MiCA-authorized exchanges including Coinbase, Kraken, and Crypto.com have removed USDT trading for European users, ending the stablecoin’s presence on regulated order books despite remaining the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

For institutional investors and asset managers, ESMA’s expanding register now offers a verified reference point for identifying regulated counterparties operating under the European Union’s unified crypto framework, while passporting continues to reduce the need for firms to secure separate licenses in each member state.