ESMA MiCA register update adds Standard Chartered and 36 other CASPs
The July 3 refresh lifted the interim EU-licensed CASP total to 280, while the ART issuer register stayed at zero.
ESMA’s first MiCA register refresh after the transitional period ended added 37 newly licensed crypto-asset service providers, including Standard Chartered and FalconX. The interim total rose to 280 CASPs, while the asset-referenced token issuer register still showed no approved issuers.
Key Takeaways
- ESMA’s July 3 MiCA register refresh added 37 licensed CASPs, with Standard Chartered and FalconX among the most market-relevant names.
- The interim register total increased to 280 CASPs from 243 in the June 26 update.
- Standard Chartered received MiCA authorization from Luxembourg regulators on June 25 and said it also secured an Electronic Money Institution license.
- ESMA’s ART issuer register remained at zero approved issuers, and the non-compliant entities list stayed at 162.
ESMA’s First Post-Deadline MiCA Register Jump Adds 37 CASPs
ESMA’s July 3, 2026 update to its interim MiCA register expanded the list of authorized crypto-asset service providers by 37 entries in a single refresh. The move pushed the interim total to 280 CASPs, up from 243 in the prior update published June 26.
For traders, the signal is less about the headline number and more about the mix of names now sitting inside the EU’s licensing perimeter. The latest additions included Standard Chartered and digital asset prime brokerage FalconX, alongside Sygnum Europe and Ronin EM. In market-structure terms, a +37 jump immediately after the transitional period ended suggests the licensing pipeline is clearing and scaling across multiple business models, from banking groups to liquidity and prime-style intermediaries.
The update also touched MiCA’s token-issuer side. ESMA’s register of electronic money tokens added Crédit Agricole’s CACEIS, while the asset-referenced token register showed no approved issuers.
Standard Chartered Lands Luxembourg MiCA Authorization and an EMI License
Standard Chartered’s appearance on the CASP list follows its MiCA authorization from Luxembourg regulators on June 25, 2026. The bank also said it was granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license, which it said allows it to issue electronic money and provide payment services.
Standard Chartered framed the approvals as a strategic step toward an EU operating footprint for digital assets. “Securing our MiCA and EMI licences is a key step in progressing our digital asset journey in Europe,” said Margaret Harwood-Jones, the bank’s global head of financing.
The practical read-through is that MiCA authorization paired with an EMI permission set can support more than just “crypto access” as a product label. It creates a regulatory basis for payments-linked rails and custody-adjacent offerings that can matter for onboarding flows, fiat settlement, and the credibility of counterparties serving European clients. The bank said the approvals build on recent milestones including launching digital asset custody services in Asia and the Middle East, and that they support growing client demand for regulated access to digital assets in Europe.
Two timing details remain imprecise in the public narrative. The transitional period was described as ending on “Wednesday,” and the EMI license announcement was described as coming on “Monday,” without exact calendar dates specified.
Where the New Licenses Landed: Cyprus Leads the Latest Wave
The latest wave of authorizations was geographically dispersed, with Cyprus leading the update. Six of the newly listed CASPs were authorized in Cyprus, followed by France with five. Italy and Malta also recorded five each, while the Czech Republic and Spain added four each. Luxembourg accounted for three listings, the Netherlands added two, and Germany, Liechtenstein, and Latvia each recorded one.
That split matters because it shows MiCA onboarding is not consolidating into a single “EU hub” in the early data. It is being distributed across national regulators, which can shape where firms choose to base EU entities and where compliance and supervisory expectations become most influential.
On running totals, the approvals brought the number of MiCA authorizations granted by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission to 21. Germany’s BaFin remained the EU authority with the most MiCA authorizations at 58.
Signals Traders Can Track in the Next ESMA Updates
The next ESMA register refresh is the near-term scoreboard for whether the CASP count continues to rise from 280 and whether more banks, prime brokers, or liquidity providers join the list. A steady cadence of additions would reinforce that MiCA is moving from a transition story to an operating reality for venues and intermediaries with EU client exposure.
The cleanest regime milestone on the issuer side is any move off zero in ESMA’s asset-referenced token register. The first approved ART issuer would be a step-change for stablecoin-style issuance under MiCA, especially given how quickly the CASP list is expanding.
Traders should also track whether the non-compliant entities list moves from 162. Additions or removals can signal enforcement pressure, remediation, or firms exiting EU-facing activity.
Finally, follow-on announcements from Standard Chartered tied to its MiCA authorization and stated EMI license will matter more than the license headline itself. Concrete EU product launches, payments integrations, or client onboarding changes would be the real tell.
What the MiCA Register Momentum Suggests for EU Market Structure
I treat the July 3 jump as a throughput signal. A single update adding 37 CASPs right after the transitional window ended reads like a backlog clearing, not a one-off marketing moment. If that pace persists, EU market access starts to look less like a patchwork of local permissions and more like a standardized gating mechanism that will influence where liquidity, prime services, and institutional flows choose to concentrate.
The threshold that matters is whether the issuer side catches up. If the CASP list keeps compounding while ART approvals stay at zero and the non-compliant list remains sticky, the setup starts to look structural rather than narrative-driven: regulated intermediaries expand, but stablecoin-style issuance under MiCA remains constrained, shaping what products can scale in practice.
