StanChart joins ESMA’s first MiCA register update since deadline
Key Takeaways
- According to Cointelegraph, the European Securities and Markets Authority added 37 new crypto-asset service providers to its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation register on Friday, the first update since the transitional period ended Wednesday.
- Standard Chartered, FalconX, Sygnum Europe and Ronin EM were among the newly listed firms, while Crédit Agricole’s CACEIS unit was added to the register of electronic money token issuers, Cointelegraph reported.
- The interim register now shows 280 authorized crypto-asset service providers, up from 243 in the previous update on June 26, with Germany’s BaFin still leading at 58 authorizations and Cyprus’s CySEC at 21, per Cointelegraph.
What ESMA’s Register Update Actually Shows
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, the European Union’s framework for overseeing crypto-asset service providers and token issuers, entered a new phase this week as its transitional period came to a close on Wednesday, according to Cointelegraph. The first register update to follow that deadline landed on Friday, when ESMA added 37 newly licensed crypto-asset service providers to its interim list, bringing the total to 280 entities, up from 243 recorded in the prior update on June 26, Cointelegraph reported.
Among the additions were Standard Chartered, which Cointelegraph said obtained its Markets in Crypto-Assets authorization from Luxembourg regulators on June 25, alongside digital asset prime brokerage FalconX, Sygnum Europe and Ronin EM. Separately, the register covering electronic money tokens gained a new entry in CACEIS, a unit of Crédit Agricole, per Cointelegraph’s reporting.
Geographically, Cyprus accounted for the largest share of the new approvals, with six newly listed providers, according to Cointelegraph. France, Italy and Malta each contributed five new entries, while the Czech Republic and Spain each added four. Luxembourg recorded three new listings, the Netherlands added two, and Germany, Liechtenstein and Latvia each saw one new provider added to the register, Cointelegraph reported. These national totals feed into cumulative country-level counts, with Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, remaining the bloc’s most active regulator with 58 total Markets in Crypto-Assets authorizations, and Cyprus’s Securities and Exchange Commission now at 21, according to Cointelegraph.
Notably, the update left two parts of the register unchanged: the list of asset-referenced token issuers still shows no approved entities, and the register of non-compliant firms remained steady at 162, Cointelegraph noted.
Why This Matters Beyond the Spreadsheet
For everyday crypto users and investors in the European Union, the register functions as a practical reference point for checking whether a platform is operating under the bloc’s harmonized rules rather than outside them. As the transitional arrangements that allowed firms to operate under national licenses wind down, an expanding and regularly updated list gives consumers a clearer way to verify which service providers have met the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation’s authorization standards, based on Cointelegraph’s reporting.
Standard Chartered’s inclusion is particularly notable given its scale as a global banking group, according to Cointelegraph. The bank also secured an Electronic Money Institution license, which Cointelegraph said allows it to issue electronic money and provide payment services, with the approval announced by the bank on Monday. Margaret Harwood-Jones, Standard Chartered’s global head of financing, was quoted by Cointelegraph as saying that securing the Markets in Crypto-Assets and Electronic Money Institution licenses marks a key step in progressing the bank’s digital asset work in Europe. Cointelegraph added that the bank described these approvals as building on earlier steps, including the launch of digital asset custody services in Asia and the Middle East, and as a response to client interest in regulated access to digital assets within Europe.
For retail users, the presence of established banking institutions and specialized digital asset firms on the same regulatory register suggests that the European market is consolidating around a single supervisory framework rather than a patchwork of national regimes. That can simplify due diligence: a provider’s appearance on ESMA’s list indicates it has cleared a defined authorization process in at least one EU member state, which under the regulation’s passporting mechanism can extend across the bloc. At the same time, the unchanged count of non-compliant entities, still at 162 according to Cointelegraph, is a reminder that authorization is not universal and that unlicensed platforms continue to operate alongside newly approved ones.
The continued absence of approved issuers in the asset-referenced token category is also worth watching. Asset-referenced tokens, which are typically backed by a basket of assets rather than a single fiat currency, have not yet produced an authorized issuer under the framework, Cointelegraph reported, suggesting that this segment of the market remains earlier in its regulatory journey than stablecoin-style electronic money tokens or general service providers.
Hype Check
Claim: Standard Chartered joining the Markets in Crypto-Assets register signals a sweeping transformation of European crypto regulation now that the transitional deadline has passed. Reality: Cointelegraph’s reporting describes a routine, incremental register update, one of 37 new approvals spread across multiple countries and firm types, alongside unchanged figures for asset-referenced token issuers and non-compliant entities. The addition of a major bank is meaningful for market legitimacy but represents one entry among many, not a singular regulatory turning point. Verdict: Mixed. This is not financial advice.
Source
Researched with AI assistance, fact-checked and edited by a human. Not financial advice.