MiCA Deadline Exposes Compliance Gap in European Crypto Market

Luxembourg's VASP transitional period under MiCAR expired on July 1, and its expiration has created a compliance gap in Europe's crypto market. This deadline was not a soft target, so firms that entered it without a completed CASP authorization must now stop serving EEA customers.

Ripple secured full MiCA CASP authorization from Luxembourg's CSSF last week, and the company joins approximately 210 firms reported to have reached MiCA-compliant status ahead of the July 1 cutoff. However, other exchanges, custodians, and payment processors face an immediate choice between accelerating their authorization process and withdrawing from the region.

Ripple holds both an EMI license and the new CASP approval, which maps directly to the two distinct regulatory tracks MiCAR creates for firms that want to offer complete crypto payment services in the EEA. This combination enables 'end-to-end regulated crypto payments' available to financial institutions, corporates, and businesses across all 30 EEA countries.