The transitional period that let crypto firms operate in the EU under old national rules closes for good on 1 July 2026. From that date, any provider offering crypto-asset services to EU residents must hold a full MiCA Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorisation — or stop serving them.
This is the final deadline written into MiCA’s Article 143(3). Some member states ended their grandfathering windows earlier — Germany and Ireland both closed theirs on 31 December 2025 — but none extend beyond 1 July 2026. After that, there is no transitional cover anywhere in the bloc.
What this means for neobanks
For neobanks that offer in-app crypto buying, selling or custody, MiCA cover is now a prerequisite for keeping the feature live for EU customers. The good news for users: the major players are already authorised.
- Revolut holds a MiCA CASP through Revolut Bank UAB, licensed by the Bank of Lithuania.
- Vivid Money holds a MiCAR authorisation covering its crypto services.
- Lunar secured a MiCA CASP licence in Denmark in October 2025 — the first in Scandinavia.
- N26 offers crypto through its partner Bitpanda, which provides the CASP cover, rather than holding its own.
- Trade Republic offers crypto under its German banking and brokerage licence rather than as a standalone CASP.
In short, if you use one of these apps for crypto, the 1 July deadline should not interrupt your access.
Stablecoins: which ones survive
MiCA also reshapes which stablecoins are available to EU retail users. USDT (Tether) did not seek MiCA authorisation and has been delisted from EU-regulated venues for retail customers. USDC and EURC (Circle) are MiCA-compliant and are the dollar and euro stablecoins now available across the EU.
One nuance: holding USDT in self-custody is unaffected — the restriction applies to regulated platforms offering it to retail, not to coins already in your own wallet.
What MiCA does — and doesn’t — protect
MiCA brings real consumer safeguards: client-asset segregation, conduct rules, and disclosure requirements that did not exist under the old patchwork of national regimes. But it is important to understand its limits.
MiCA is not deposit insurance. The crypto you hold with a neobank is not covered by the €100,000 deposit guarantee scheme that protects your euro balances. Segregation rules reduce certain risks, but they are not the same as a state-backed guarantee.
Before depositing crypto with any platform, verify its authorisation status on ESMA’s public register of authorised CASPs. A MiCA licence is the new baseline — check that the provider actually holds one.
For a side-by-side look at how EU neobanks handle crypto under the new regime, see our neobank crypto comparison for Europe.
Source: https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica