The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has reminded crypto companies that from 1 July 2026, platforms without MiCA license must completely cease serving customers from the European Union. The regulator has required service providers to prepare plans in advance for winding down businesses in the region.

The law firm Hogan Lovells estimated that only 194 firms had been officially approved by May - a small fraction of the approximately 3,000 firms previously operating in the region. About 75% of the old sites are expected to close or leave the European market. For regular users, this means blocking accounts: unlicensed exchanges will stop accepting deposits and require withdrawals.

Traders will face the most pressure in France, where local regulators have threatened offenders with criminal penalties and heavy fines. The MiCA requirements have already had a significant impact on the stablecoin market: major exchanges, including Binance and Kraken, started delinking USDT because the asset did not comply with the regulations. It is replaced by adjustable tokens such as USDC.

As regulation tightened in early June, the New York State Financial Services Authority and the European Banking Authority signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly oversee the stablecoin market, reflecting global coordination among regulators in the digital-asset sector.