News linked to both this project and an event.
Circle's Senior Director of EU Strategy and Policy Patrick Hansen (@paddi_hansen) stated in a post that since the implementation of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), approximately 35 Electronic Money Tokens (EMT) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance certification, with banks and electronic money institutions entering the market and strong momentum in local issuance. However, among the top 50 global stablecoins, currently only USDC, USDG, and EURC comply with MiCA requirements; the rest remain outside the regulatory framework, leaving EU users facing a dual dilemma of lacking protection or having access forcibly cut off. Hansen believes that for MiCA to truly become a global regulatory blueprint, it must achieve two goals simultaneously: first, to promote local EMTs to go global through a competitive regime; second, to establish a recognition mechanism for overseas compliant stablecoins, attracting global issuers into the MiCA regulatory framework, rather than making local issuance the only access path.
the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated the provisional MiCA registry on Friday, adding 15 licensed crypto asset service providers (CASPs), bringing the total number to 309. The newly added institutions include BNY SA/NV, the Belgian subsidiary of US banking giant BNY Mellon. This latest batch includes four banking institutions, three of which are from Germany, alongside digital asset platforms such as BitPay, Coinify, and Bleap. Germany and Denmark each added three CASPs, Bulgaria and Latvia each added two, while Belgium, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, and the Netherlands each added one. ESMA stated that this update did not alter other MiCA-related registries, including those for asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), e-money tokens (EMTs), authorized issuers of crypto assets, and the list of non-compliant entities. Following the previous transitional deadline on July 1, ESMA’s second update had added 14 CASPs, including Ripple Payments Europe.
Patrick Hansen, Senior Director of EU Strategy and Policy at Circle, cited the MiCA provisional registration data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), releasing the compliance statistics one week after the regulation's full implementation. Currently, the EU has 21 authorized Electronic Money Token (EMT) issuers, distributed across 12 member states, collectively issuing 35 EMTs pegged to 8 types of fiat currencies. Among them, France leads other member states with 6 licensed issuers. Meanwhile, the number of approved Asset-Referenced Token (ART) issuers remains at 0, while the total registered Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASP) under the MiCA framework has exceeded 270.
: Institutional-grade digital asset custody platform Zodia Custody has announced that it has obtained a payment institution license from the Luxembourg financial regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF). This authorization allows the company to compliantly provide custody and transfer services for electronic money tokens (EMTs, i.e., stablecoins) within the European Union.Zodia Custody stated that this approval represents a further expansion on its existing MiCA license, enhancing its digital asset service capabilities for institutional clients. The company believes that as the use of stablecoins in payment settlement, liquidity management, and corporate treasury operations continues to grow, stablecoin custody and transfer capabilities will become a core component of digital asset infrastructure providers.Founded in 2020, Zodia Custody focuses on the institutional client market. Its shareholders include institutions such as Standard Chartered, Northern Trust, SBI Holdings, Emirates NBD, and National Australia Bank. Following the approval of this Luxembourg license, Zodia Custody has now obtained relevant regulatory permissions in multiple jurisdictions, including the UK, UAE, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Australia, and the EU. (The Block)
According to Crowdfund Insider, Circle’s French subsidiary, Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS (referred to as “Circle France”), received formal authorization from the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) on April 20 to provide custody and transfer services for its stablecoins USDC and EURC across the entire European Economic Area (EEA). Under Article 60(4) of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), this authorization enables Circle France to operate via the “passporting mechanism,” allowing customers in all EEA member states to access these services without requiring additional local licenses. Circle is the largest compliant issuer of electronic money tokens (EMTs) under MiCA regulation in the EU. The authorized custody services cover secure storage and management of clients’ crypto assets, while the transfer functionality supports seamless asset movement. Dante Disparte, Circle’s Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy and Operations, stated that this milestone reflects Circle’s commitment to operating within Europe’s regulatory framework and supporting the development of trusted digital financial infrastructure in France and across the EU. This authorization builds upon Circle’s prior authorization as an electronic money institution in France.