Coinbase secures Mica license, chooses Luxembourg as an EU location
Coinbase from the Luxembourg Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier has a markets in Crypto-Assets (Mica) license receivethat enables the stock exchange to offer crypto products in the countries of the European Union.
The step signals an increasing competition on the European cryptom market, on which other stock exchanges have also tried to register. Okx and Crypto.com secured the mica licenses in January, followed by Bybit in May. According to a report by Reuters, Gemini is also on the way to maintaining a license in the region.
Coinbase has appointed Luxembourg to his new European headquarters and justifies this with the country's reputation as a progressive financial center in Western Europe. The country that borders on Belgium, France and Germany has gradually promoted crypto regulation since 2019.
“Luxembourg actively pursues a total-state approach for blockchain and DLT and has adopted four blockchain-related guidelines through the national legislative,” said Coinbase.
At the time of the creation of this article, the shares of Coinbase rose by 4.95 % on the day of the announcement and are now $ 309.92 compared to a final course of $ 295.29 on Thursday, as Google Finance reports
In May, Coinbase announced the takeover of the Derebit options trading platform for $ 2.9 billion. On May 19, the stock exchange was the first crypto company in the S&P 500, an index of the 500 largest listed companies in the United States.
Crypto adoption in Europe is increasing
Mica is a legal framework that aims to standardize the rules for the crypto industry in the European Union, to protect crypto investors and to improve financial stability. It was adopted in May 2023 and came into force in December 2024.
Crypto investments in Europe are increasing, with an estimated 10-20 % of European investors have a certain commitment in the emerging industry.
The use of cryptocurrencies develops into one of the most important factors for the acceptance of cryptocurrencies and not only for the increase in capital value, with 70 % of the crypto payments in the areas of retail, food and drinks. The use of cryptocurrencies in decentralized financial applications is also increasing in Eastern Europe.
