4 crypto startups earn MiCA licenses from Dutch watchdog

Dutch regulators awarded four digital asset service operators new crypto licenses, allowing them to operate anywhere in the European Union under MiCA.

MoonPay, BitStaete, FinTech ZBD, and Hidden Road were approved by the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets to receive Markets in Crypto Assets licenses in the Netherlands.

Registration with the Dutch AFM paves the way for MoonPay’s crypto payment platform, BitStaete’s digital asset management business, Bitcoin lightning service from FinTech ZBD, and Hidden Road’s broker-clear to operate in any of the EU’s 27-member countries.

The four companies join firms like Circle and Socios.com in securing regulatory permission under the EU’s new regulatory route.

MiCA represents the first comprehensive body of crypto rules in a major bloc. Under the framework, companies are required to obtain a Crypto Asset Service Provider license from an EU member nation.

Laws from the EU’s rulebook kicked in fully on Dec. 30, and union members were expected to enforce the rules by that date. However, countries have faced bottlenecks in MiCA implementation.

The U.K., which left the EU in 2020, hurried to attract crypto business after MiCA’s establishment. Crypto trading firm GRS Market recently scored approval from the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority.

Meanwhile, companies with EU customers dropped noncompliant tokens from their platforms. Coinbase and other exchanges delisted tokens like Tether’s (USDT) stablecoin as operators adjusted to the new regulatory regime.