Competition heats up as crypto exchanges vie for European market

Competition is heating up as more exchanges set up operations in Europe, where MiCA provides new “rules of the road.”

Crypto exchanges are setting up shop in Europe and securing licenses with EU officials, bringing more competition to the regulated European market.

So far this year, OKX, Coinbase, Bybit and Crypto.com have all secured licenses under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. While it imposes strict requirements on various services in the crypto industry, it now means that crypto exchanges in the European Economic Area (EEA) will all be playing by the same rules.

Observers anticipate that this will see Europe pull ahead of other jurisdictions like the United States, which is still in the process of developing a rudimentary framework for stablecoins. Indeed, European regulators are already discussing a second regulatory package, “MiCA 2.0,” that would fill gaps not addressed in its first iteration.

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