Crossmint has obtained Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory approval from Spain’s securities regulator CNMV to operate as a Crypto Asset Services Provider (CASP), positioning it as a regulated stablecoin infrastructure provider in all 27 European Union member states.
Miguel Angel Zapatero, general counsel of Crossmint, told Cointelegraph that the company was held to “exactly the same standards” as customary financial institutions, ending any notion that MiCA offers a lighter regime for cryptocurrency companies.
He said MiCA had created a “level playing field” and built trust in the sector through “consistent standards and enforcement”, adding that the “wild west” days were over and that MiCA had provided “confidence to more traditional customers who were not confident enough in crypto technology”.
What does the Crossmint license cover?
Zapatero said the Crossmint authorization covers three core CASP activities under MiCA: fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchanges in both directions, custody of crypto assets on behalf of clients, and inter-wallet and inter-blockchain transfers.
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He said the company “provides stablecoin infrastructure for a wide variety of use cases, customers and industries, rather than operating a trading platform,” which he said makes it relatively unique among MiCA-authorized companies in focusing on business-to-business rail rather than retail speculation.
Internally, it said the authorization process is treated like a bank-style licensing, with the CNMV assessing comprehensive anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) programs that meet European Union standards along with other stringent requirements, in a process that “took over 18 months” of iterative review.
Related: Ripple targets EU MiCA passporting, nods to Luxembourg on e-money
Grandfather period and customer demand
Crossmint co-founder Rodri Fernández Touza told Cointelegraph that many target customers, such as remittance companies, payroll platforms, neobanks and marketplaces, are currently facing internal mandates to exploit MiCA-licensed partners, especially as the “vesting period” (transient arrangements that allow companies authorized under pre-MiCA national regulations to continue operating while applying for a MiCA license) ends around July.
Non-compliant providers risk being effectively pushed out or blacklisted by regulators and contractors, he said, adding that Crossmint is “ready to absorb this demand” and is positioning its MiCA licenses and “regulatory backbone” as a sunk cost that customers can effectively “plug in” to, rather than repeating the long and exorbitant path to authorization.
Looking ahead at the end of the transition period, Fernández Touza sees three categories of demand: businesses and fintechs whose current suppliers will be rendered useless, incumbents in the national system deciding between full MiCA compliance or exit, and unlicensed suppliers forced out of the market through enforcement.
He noted that soon, after carrying out standard administrative processes, the company will be formally entered into the public register of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
Related: Europe’s MiCA law is on the move, but can the cryptocurrency industry keep up?
The transition to MiCA restricts companies that do not comply with the regulations
In Spain, the CNMV has published detailed MiCA guidelines and transition Q&As that effectively force locally registered cryptocurrency providers to upgrade to full CASP authorization or be shut down, putting additional pressure on unlicensed or poorly supervised platforms.
Meanwhile, French markets regulator AMF recently flagged 90 crypto firms operating in France that remain unlicensed under MiCA, revealing that just 30% have applied for a license.
Under ESMA guidelines, companies that fail to obtain MiCA authorization before the end of the transition period are expected to implement “orderly wind-down” plans, meaning that a significant proportion of today’s EU cryptocurrency providers may have to cease providing services or transfer customers to fully licensed partners.
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