In short
- Spain’s security watchdog said there will be no further extension of the EU’s July 1 MiCA license deadline for crypto companies.
- Binance, which does not have a license after withdrawing its application from Greece, may have to temporarily suspend operations in the EU.
- Regulators are working with unlicensed companies to ensure that customers’ assets can be transferred if needed.
Spain’s top security official said on Friday the country will not extend the looming deadline for crypto companies to register under the new rules—even though Binance is struggling to do so.
Under the newly formed European Union MICA crypto framework, companies have until July 1 to register with a member state and still operate. If they fail to register by next week, they will be forced to go out of business. European customers will not be able to do all transactions with illegal crypto service providers after next week.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, wanted to register under MiCA with Greece. But following a report that the country would not agree to accept it, Binance said this week that he retired from his job in Greece. It now wants to register in other EU member states, but is expected to be forced to suspend operations in Europe, temporarily, after the clock expires next Wednesday.
On Friday, Carlos San Basilio, chairman of Spain’s National Securities Market Commission, said “there will be no exceptions or extensions” until the July 1 deadline, according to a report from Spain. Reuters.
San Basilio expressed concern about major crypto platforms such as Binance, which are close to closing days due to lack of MiCA compliance.
“What we are concerned about … is how this period – the end of the transition period – will be carried out, and how the transition to the new place will be carried out,” he said.
The manager added that he and others are contacting major crypto companies that have not yet obtained licenses, to confirm that they have plans to transfer customer assets to other providers and ensure that they have the right to trade.
Once a crypto company is registered in an EU country, it can “passport” its license to other jurisdictions. The EU member states boast a range of tax regimes, from laissez-faire places like Cyprus and Malta to stricter regimes like France and Germany.
Although each EU country may develop software in its own way, however, they will all be subject to crypto-related regulations.
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