MiCA License Sparks European Custody Boom as Offshore Exchanges Face Bottleneck

Conio has become one of the first Italian fintechs to clear Europe's new crypto Rubicon, obtaining a MiCA license for custody, transfers, and placement of digital assets from Consob. This decision, announced on June 17, 2026, sets a new marker for bank-aligned custody in the EU.

Just a day earlier, sources told Reuters that Greece's markets watchdog was poised to reject Binance's MiCA license application, which could curtail its ability to serve EU clients after the transition window closes. This outcome highlights Europe's new reality: licensed, bank-integrated custody is moving centre stage, while offshore exchanges face a licensing bottleneck.

The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime replaces the patchwork of national regimes with a single passport for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). With 231 licensed CASPs across 30 EU/EEA markets as of June 19, 2026, regulation is becoming a competitive moat, not just a compliance task.