Without a license to operate with cryptocurrencies

In Europe, as always, we love to legislate. One of the latest regulations to come into force, on July 1st, is the obligation to have the MiCA license (an EU authorization) to operate with cryptocurrencies in European territory. Until that date, there were about 3,000 companies that allowed buying, selling, and custody of cryptocurrencies. However, only 210 have obtained the license and only 14 have it fully operational. In practice, how does this affect us?

If you have your cryptocurrencies with about 93% of companies that do not yet have the license, you don't need to worry. Your funds remain yours and you can withdraw them in fiat currency (euros) or transfer the cryptocurrencies to platforms that do have the license. What you will not be able to do is continue buying and selling cryptocurrencies through these companies starting July 1st. The main platform that has lost its authorization is Binance, while others, such as Coinbase, Kraken, or Bitstamp, have obtained it.

The situation will probably be temporary and it is foreseeable that more and more companies will obtain the license. In the case of Binance, for example, the delay is related to the legal problems its founder had, rather than the company's current operations. Nevertheless, some platforms continue to offer services without having the corresponding authorization. In fact, ESMA has already compiled a list of entities operating without complying with the new regulation.

In short, the MiCA regulation does not intend to prohibit cryptocurrencies, but rather to regulate their market and offer more guarantees to investors. As almost always happens, this implies more security, but also more bureaucracy and less competition in the short term.