MiCA after the transition: what U.S. crypto firms need to know
The grandfathering period ended July 1, 2026. The question for a U.S. firm is no longer whether Europe has rules, but whether each EU counterparty actually holds the permission it is relying on.
What changed, and where it stands
MiCA applied to stablecoin issuers from June 30, 2024 and to everything else from December 30, 2024. Firms already operating under national rules could keep serving clients under Article 143(3) until licensed or until July 1, 2026, whichever came first. Several member states shortened that window (the Netherlands to six months, Germany to twelve), so for many firms the real deadline came earlier.
- Grandfathering is over everywhere in the EU. Crypto-asset services to EU clients require authorization under Article 59, or an Article 60 notification by an entity that already holds an EU license as a credit institution, investment firm, e-money institution, fund manager, market operator or central securities depository, each limited to the services its existing license maps to.
- Unlicensed firms must wind down. In its June 23, 2026 statement, ESMA told them to stop onboarding EU clients and stop marketing, to limit activity to helping existing clients sell, transfer or close positions, and to communicate clearly and repeatedly about the wind-down.
- Reverse solicitation is narrow. A non-EU firm may serve an EU client only when the service is provided at the client’s own exclusive initiative, and may not use that relationship to market new crypto-assets or services.
- Lending and borrowing sit outside MiCA, for now. ESMA confirmed in Q&A 2883 (June 18, 2026) that crypto lending is not itself a MiCA service, relying on Recital 94. A lender still needs authorization for any MiCA service it performs alongside lending, such as custody or transfers, and the Commission’s review is weighing whether to bring lending in.
- Enforcement is national. Member state authorities impose fines and other measures, and some add criminal penalties for unlicensed activity.
Who is licensed. By the end of September 2026, ESMA’s register listed roughly 360 authorized CASPs across the EU and EEA, with Germany, France and the Netherlands accounting for the largest numbers. The number matters less than the entry. Before relying on a counterparty, find its exact legal entity on the ESMA register, read which of the ten MiCA services it is authorized for, and confirm that the entity you contract with is the entity that holds the permission.
Who should care
- Exchanges, brokers and wallet providers with EU users or EU-facing marketing.
- Funds and asset managers trading through EU venues, brokers, lenders and custodians.
- Token issuers offering to the EU public or seeking admission to trading, and stablecoin issuers whose coins reach EU users.
- Any U.S. firm that signed a “partnership” with an EU-licensed entity and assumed the license travels with the contract.
Our read: what the pipeline tells us
Two signals point the same way. First, the capital: the firms that obtained full MiCA authorizations are the ones that moved real operations, people and client assets into EU entities, and the exchange licenses are concentrated in a few large groups. Second, the supervisors: ESMA’s July 2024 opinion told national authorities to look hard at EU brokers that route orders to non-EU affiliates and to keep client custody inside the EU CASP. Europe is building a market where substance must sit where the license sits. We expect:
- Supervision will centralize. On December 4, 2025 the European Commission proposed that ESMA authorize and supervise all CASPs. The Council favors limiting that to significant CASPs; the Parliament’s economic affairs committee is still at work. A handover is years away, but contracts with EU counterparties should already allow for a change of supervisor.
- The perimeter will widen. In its September 30, 2026 response to the Commission’s review, ESMA asked for rules on staking, lending and borrowing, clearer tests for when DeFi is truly decentralized, stricter marketing rules, and stronger powers against non-EU firms soliciting EU investors. Plan for lending to come inside.
- The two big stablecoin regimes will converge in practice. MiCA’s e-money token rules and the U.S. GENIUS Act, effective January 18, 2027, both demand full reserves, redemption at par and named supervisors. A coin built to the stricter of the two is the durable design. See When does the GENIUS Act take effect?
What moves now: the counterparty audit and the honest answer on reverse solicitation. What can wait: restructuring for ESMA supervision, which is not yet law. What founders misunderstand: that partnering with a licensed CASP lets a U.S. firm keep doing the regulated work. It does not. The EU entity must genuinely provide the service, with EU client assets in its own custody, or the arrangement is the kind ESMA has already told supervisors to unwind.
None of this should read as a wall. It is a market committing, in law and in capital, to rails that will still be standing when the next cycle turns. A firm that enters in good faith, with the right entity and the right permissions, is not merely compliant; it is building on ground that will not shift beneath it. The purpose of knowing the rules is the freedom to build.
Three next steps
- Audit every EU counterparty against the register: legal entity, authorized services, passporting, and whether your contract is with that entity. Record the check and the date.
- Decide your own EU posture. License through an EU subsidiary (and passport across the EEA), work through an EU-regulated entity that performs the service in substance, or stop serving EU clients and wind down the way ESMA described. Then align your website, social channels and events with that choice, because marketing to EU users undercuts any reverse-solicitation position.
- Classify before you offer. A token that is a financial instrument is outside MiCA and inside EU securities law. A public offer or admission to trading of a MiCA crypto-asset generally needs a white paper notified to a national authority. Stablecoins need an authorized issuer. Fund interests remain governed by the AIFMD and national private placement rules.
The exception most likely to change those steps
Reverse solicitation, if you are relying on it. ESMA’s guidelines treat it as a narrow exception for relationships that began at the client’s own exclusive initiative, and its review response asks for more power over non-EU firms that solicit EU investors. If a meaningful share of your EU revenue rests on that exception, assume the ground is narrowing and plan the licensed or partnered route before a supervisor asks you to.
Questions we hear often
Can we keep a few EU clients who found us on their own? Only if each relationship genuinely began at the client’s own exclusive initiative and you market nothing new to them. Keep records.
Does a U.S. fund need a MiCA license? Usually not to trade its own portfolio. Its EU service providers do, for each MiCA service they perform, and marketing fund interests in the EU is a separate question under the AIFMD.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA): Articles 59, 60, 143(3); Recital 94
- ESMA public statement on the end of the transitional period, June 23, 2026
- ESMA Q&A 2883 on crypto-asset lending, June 18, 2026
- ESMA response to the Commission’s MiCA review consultation, September 30, 2026
- ESMA MiCA register and resources
This article is general information as of October 6, 2026. It is not legal advice, it is not advice on EU law, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Check the current status before acting.