Belgium Warns Against Six Unauthorized Crypto Providers After MiCA Deadline

The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, became fully applicable on Dec. 30, 2024, establishing a common licensing framework for crypto-asset service providers. The European Securities and Markets Authority coordinates implementation with national regulators. As more than 1,000 unauthorized platforms face service restrictions, millions of customers may need to move accounts or holdings, creating a rare period of confusion that criminals can exploit with convincing compliance messages.

Fraudsters are impersonating regulators and licensed exchanges in emails, text messages and cloned websites, falsely telling users that MiCA requires an urgent asset migration. Victims are directed to disclose recovery phrases or transfer tokens to wallets controlled by scammers. Reports cited 4,465 cases in Britain over a six-month period, underscoring how Europe’s regulatory transition has opened a new phishing window even as MiCA seeks to remove unlicensed operators and strengthen consumer protection.

The Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, replaced fragmented national regimes with a single rulebook for exchanges, brokers and custodians across the 27-nation European Union. The framework became fully applicable on Dec. 30, 2024, while legacy providers received an up-to-18-month transition. A license from one member state can be passported across the bloc, raising governance, capital and anti-money-laundering standards and making ESMA’s public register a key tool for customers checking whether a provider is legitimate.

That transition ended on July 1, 2026. Unauthorised firms must stop onboarding and marketing to EU clients, restrict services and wind down in an orderly way. ESMA, the European Banking Authority and the European Commission have warned that fraudsters are exploiting the disruption by posing as departing crypto platforms, regulators or asset-recovery agents, then demanding fees, personal data or wallet credentials. Europe had more than 3,000 providers registered under old national systems, while only about 244 had MiCA authorisation around the deadline.

The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, created a common authorization and supervision regime for crypto-asset service providers across the bloc. A license can be passported into other EU markets, replacing a patchwork of national rules with standards covering governance, disclosures and client protection. The addition of a unit of BNY, one of the world’s largest custody banks, underscores how traditional financial institutions are moving regulated digital-asset services into their core European operations.

The European Securities and Markets Authority updated its interim MiCA register on July 24, adding 15 crypto-asset service providers and lifting the total to 309. The additions included Belgium-based BNY SA/NV, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon, authorized for crypto-asset custody and transfer services following notification by the National Bank of Belgium. It was ESMA’s third register update since the EU’s longest grandfathering period expired on July 1, when providers without MiCA authorization were required to stop serving EU clients.