ESMA Adds 37 Crypto Firms to MiCA Register, Including StanChart
Europe's securities regulator updated its MiCA register for the first time since the regulatory deadline, adding 37 crypto-asset service providers.
The European Securities and Markets Authority has issued its first update to the Markets in Crypto-Assets register since the regulation's compliance deadline passed, adding 37 crypto-asset service providers to the official list. Among the newly registered entities are Standard Chartered, one of the world's largest international banking groups, and FalconX, a prominent institutional crypto trading platform — a pairing that signals both traditional finance and native crypto firms are actively seeking regulatory legitimacy under the EU's landmark framework.
The MiCA regulation represents the European Union's most comprehensive attempt to bring order to the fragmented digital-asset landscape, establishing clear licensing and operational requirements for firms wishing to serve customers across member states. The post-deadline nature of this update carries particular weight: it indicates that ESMA is actively processing applications and enforcing the register as an authoritative compliance tool, not merely as a symbolic gesture.
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The inclusion of Standard Chartered is analytically significant. Traditional banks entering the MiCA register suggests that major financial institutions see a viable, regulated path into European crypto markets rather than waiting on the sidelines for further regulatory clarity. For institutional players like FalconX, registration provides the cross-border passporting benefits that make EU-wide operations commercially practical without the burden of navigating 27 separate national regimes.
For the broader crypto industry, a growing ESMA register functions as a market-structuring signal — firms on the list gain a competitive trust advantage, while those still operating outside it face increasing pressure from both regulators and institutional clients demanding compliance. The 37-firm addition is likely just one wave in what observers expect to be a series of incremental register expansions as ESMA works through its application backlog in the months ahead.
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