MiCA is the comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto-assets in the European Union. It governs how crypto-assets are issued and traded, and the services built around them, including custody, exchange and transfer. What an organisation needs depends on what it does. This page maps the relevant authorisations, their requirements, timelines and capital thresholds, alongside the companies that currently hold them. The figures come from ESMA’s registers and are updated as those registers change.
These 1,720 authorisations belong to 1,594 companies. The company-level records are in Atlas Pro.
One authorisation can cover several activities, so these figures overlap.
Six common activities, and the authorisation each one requires. A business doing more than one may need more than one licence.
A stablecoin pegged to one official currency is an e-money token. MiCA does not create a separate issuer licence for it. The issuer must already be an authorised bank or e-money institution and must notify its white paper to the home regulator. A token referenced to anything else falls under the asset-referenced token regime and needs a separate authorisation.
EMT and ART rules have applied since 30 June 2024.
Holding or administering crypto-assets for clients is a MiCA Class 2 service. If the asset is an e-money token and the client can move it to a third party, the activity also falls under the payment-services regime. In that case, a PSD2 authorisation is needed alongside MiCA.
CASP rules have applied since 30 December 2024. The PSD2 overlay has been enforceable since 2 March 2026.
Exchanging crypto for fiat or another crypto-asset is a MiCA Class 2 service. Operating a trading platform is Class 3. The EBA has confirmed that the exchange itself is not a payment service, so PSD2 does not apply to that leg.
CASP rules have applied since 30 December 2024.
Moving value for someone else requires payment or e-money authorisation. When the asset is an e-money token, the activity also becomes a MiCA transfer service. That means both the payment-services and MiCA permissions can apply.
Both requirements have applied since 2 March 2026.
There is no separate stablecoin card licence. If the programme stores value, it belongs with an e-money institution. If it issues the payment instrument, it belongs with a payment institution. Many programmes reach the card schemes through a BIN sponsor rather than holding the relevant authorisation themselves.
PSD2 and EMD2 remain the relevant framework.
Consumer remittance and B2B settlement are payment services under PSD2 regardless of the rail used. Using a stablecoin adds the MiCA transfer-service requirements, and the Travel Rule applies to crypto transfers regardless of size.
The Travel Rule, Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, has applied since 30 December 2024.
The statutory clock is the time allowed by law. “Observed” is a range applicants report end to end, including pre-application work outside that clock, and not a figure the regulator publishes. Capital is the regulatory minimum, not legal or advisory fees.
| Licence | Statutory clock | Observed | Minimum capital | In the Atlas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MiCA CASP authorisation | 25 + 40 working days | 6 to 9 months | EUR 50,000 to 150,000 | 350 |
| MiCA e-money token issuance | 20 working days' notice | Set by the underlying licence | Set by the EMI or bank licence | 24 |
| Electronic money institution authorisation | 3 months | 9 to 18 months | EUR 350,000 + 2% of float | 1 |
| Payment institution authorisation | 3 months | 6 to 12 months | EUR 20,000 to 125,000 | 3 |
| Credit institution licence | 6 months, capped at 12 | 18 months and up | EUR 5,000,000 | Under EMT issuers |
| MiCA asset-referenced token issuer authorisation | 25 + 60 working days | No observed authorisations | EUR 350,000 or 2% of reserves | EBA register, not read |
| National VASP registration | Closed to new entrants | Closed | Not applicable | 7 |
Application fees are set by each national competent authority and are not harmonised across the union. Anvesan has not sourced them state by state and publishes no figure it cannot cite.
Where the crypto-asset is an e-money token and the service moves it to or from a third party, a PSD2 authorisation is required as well. The two sets of capital apply cumulatively, with no offset.
The NCA has 25 working days to determine whether the application is complete. Once complete, it has 40 working days to grant or refuse the authorisation. The decision is then notified within five working days.
The statutory clock starts only once the application is complete. Pre-application work, requests for further information and the completeness process fall outside it. In practice, applicants report around six to nine months end to end.
| Class 1transfer, order execution, reception and transmission, placing, advice, portfolio management | EUR 50,000 |
|---|---|
| Class 2custody and administration; exchange for funds; exchange for other crypto-assets | EUR 125,000 |
| Class 3operating a trading platform | EUR 150,000 |
Or one quarter of the previous year's fixed overheads, whichever is higher.
Application fee MiCA sets no application fee. Each NCA sets its own, and several also levy an annual supervisory charge. Not yet sourced per state.
A stablecoin referencing a basket, a commodity or more than one currency is an asset-referenced token, and takes the separate ART authorisation below.
The white paper must be notified to the NCA at least 20 working days before publication. The regulator does not approve it in advance.
The real wait is the e-money or bank authorisation underneath. The white-paper notice adds four weeks to a route that already runs months.
| Carried by the underlying licencee-money institution initial capital, or a credit institution's | EUR 350,000 or EUR 5,000,000 |
|---|
The reserve is separate from capital: full backing, segregated, redeemable at par on demand at no fee, and no interest paid to holders.
Application fee No fee for the notification itself. The fee is on the licence underneath.
Under PSD3 and the PSR, e-money institutions become a sub-category of payment institution and existing EMIs will have to re-apply within the transition.
The NCA informs the applicant whether the authorisation is granted or refused within three months of a complete application.
The statutory period starts once the application is complete. Reaching completeness is the long part: governance, safeguarding, an audited business plan, and fit-and-proper assessments of every controller.
| Initial capitalat authorisation and at all times | EUR 350,000 |
|---|---|
| Ongoing own fundsMethod D, where it exceeds initial capital | 2% of average outstanding e-money |
Customer funds are safeguarded separately from own funds and are not part of this figure.
Application fee Set nationally. Not yet sourced per state.
Since 2 March 2026 this is the second authorisation a CASP needs if it custodies or transfers e-money tokens.
The NCA informs the applicant whether the authorisation is granted or refused within three months of a complete application.
The statutory period starts once the application is complete. As with the e-money institution, assembling that file is where most of the time goes.
| Money remittance only | EUR 20,000 |
|---|---|
| Payment initiation services | EUR 50,000 |
| Executing transactions, acquiring, issuing instruments | EUR 125,000 |
Ongoing own funds are calculated under Method A, B or C and can exceed the initial figure as volume grows.
Application fee Set nationally. Not yet sourced per state.
A decision within six months of a complete application, and in any event within twelve months of receipt.
The longest route on this page, and the one a few stablecoin issuers take anyway for the deposit base and the direct access to payment systems.
| Initial capitalplus Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 requirements on an ongoing basis | EUR 5,000,000 |
|---|
Risk-weighted requirements on top, which for a stablecoin balance sheet are the larger number.
Application fee Set nationally, plus ECB supervisory fees once authorised.
25 working days for completeness, then 60 working days for the reasoned draft decision, with the ECB and the EBA giving opinions inside that window.
The dataset is still too small to give a meaningful observed timeline: ART issuers are registered by the EBA, which this dataset does not yet read. The route is also rare, because most stablecoins in the market reference a single currency and take the EMT path instead.
| Flat floorat authorisation and at all times | EUR 350,000 |
|---|---|
| Or 2% of average reserve assetsas the token grows | whichever is highest |
| Or one quarter of fixed overheads | whichever is highest |
A significant ART carries 3% of average reserve assets instead of 2%.
Application fee Set nationally.
We keep this route here because Atlas still tracks the records, and because an old registration is often the first thing a counterparty finds.
No member state grants these for crypto-asset services any more.
Anything still trading on one of these alone is operating without authorisation.
| Capital requirement | Not applicable |
|---|
Application fee Not applicable. The route is closed.
Regulatory changes only: what is being decided, by whom, and when. Company-level licence changes are tracked in Atlas Pro. Reviewed 9 September 2026.
The Commission opened a targeted consultation on the MiCA review on 20 May 2026 and extended the deadline from 31 August to 30 September. The report to Parliament and Council under Articles 140 and 142 follows, due by 30 June 2027, and may carry a legislative proposal with it.
What changes The consultation covers multi-issuance, DeFi, staking, and whether the current CASP classes should remain unchanged.
Parliament voted 390 to 86 on 9 July 2026 to allow multi-issuance with safeguards. The ECB's non-paper of 10 April 2026 reads MiCA as not permitting third-country multi-issuance, and the ESRB's recommendation adopted on 25 September 2025 and published on 20 October 2025 asked for third-country equivalence assessments to be finished by the end of 2026. The outcome is still open.
What changes The outcome will determine whether the largest dollar stablecoins can be offered in the EU at all, or only through separately reserved EU issuance.
ESRB recommendation adopted 25 September 2025, published 20 October 2025
The final texts were agreed on 23 April 2026, a day after COREPER endorsed them. Publication was expected mid-2026 and has not happened yet. The PSR enters into force 20 days after publication and applies 21 months later; PSD3 is transposed nationally on the same clock.
What changes E-money institutions become a sub-category of payment institutions. Existing EMIs will need to transition to the new category during the implementation period.
European Parliament, legislative train: payment services regulation · European Parliament, legislative train: PSD3
ECON adopted its position on 23 June 2026 by 43 votes to 14 with one abstention, and the plenary gave the negotiating mandate on 9 July 2026 by 416 to 169 with 22 abstentions. The three institutions are aiming to finish this year. The ECB plans a twelve-month pilot in the second half of 2027.
What changes A public euro rail distributed through banks, payment firms and regulated crypto firms changes the commercial case for a private euro e-money token.
The EBA's no-action period under Opinion EBA/Op/2025/08 of 10 June 2025 ended, after a follow-up opinion published on 12 February 2026 told competent authorities what to do at the end of it. A CASP that custodies transferable e-money tokens, or moves them for clients, needs a payment institution or e-money institution authorisation alongside its MiCA one.
What changes Two authorisations, two sets of capital, applied cumulatively with no offset. A CASP that custodies or transfers e-money tokens without the PSD2 side is operating outside its permissions.
The transition for firms operating on national VASP registrations closed. No member state may extend it further.
What changes A national registration no longer permits crypto-asset services anywhere in the EU. Firms still relying on one are unauthorised, not transitioning.
Atlas tracks 1,720 authorisations across 1,594 companies in the EU, based on ESMA's registers and checked on 21 September 2026. Of those, 1,564 are licensed, 6 are in the pipeline, and 150 have ended.
For an e-money token, the issuer must already be an authorised bank or e-money institution and must notify its white paper to the home regulator. A token referenced to a basket, commodity or other asset falls under the separate asset-referenced token regime and requires its own authorisation.
The statutory clock is 25 working days for the completeness check and 40 working days for the decision. In practice, applicants report around six to nine months end to end because pre-application work and information requests fall outside the statutory clock.
EUR 50,000, EUR 125,000 or EUR 150,000 depending on the services provided. For custody and exchange, the minimum is EUR 125,000. Operating a trading platform requires EUR 150,000. In every class the requirement becomes one quarter of the previous year's fixed overheads where that is higher.
MiCA does not set a single EU-wide application fee. Each national competent authority sets its own fees, and some also charge annual supervisory fees. Anvesan has not yet sourced these state by state, so we do not publish an estimate here.
Yes, through passporting. A CASP authorised in one member state can provide its authorised services across the EEA through the passporting process. Payment institutions and e-money institutions can also passport their authorisations. ESMA therefore publishes the EU register as a single list even though the authorisations are granted nationally.