Malta under MiCA: home to the world's crypto exchanges

Malta calls itself the "Blockchain Island". Under MiCA the label finally has a register to back it: 22 authorised firms, not one of them a bank, and a roster that reads like a list of the world's largest crypto exchanges. Where Germany's register fills with banks and Ireland's with white-paper filings, Malta's is where the exchanges themselves came to be licensed.

Published: August 2026 · Data as of 5 August 2026 · Reading time: ~6 minutes

Key Takeaways

• Malta has 22 authorised CASPs — and zero are credit institutions, the opposite of Germany, where nearly half are banks.
• The roster is a who's-who of global exchanges: OKX, Crypto.com, Bitpanda, Gemini, Gate, Blockchain.com, BVNK, FalconX, Bequant, Strike and more.
• OKX, Bitpanda and Crypto.com were authorised on the same day — 27 January 2025 — among the very first CASP licences granted anywhere under MiCA.
• 21 of the 22 hold a custody permission: these are full exchange operations, not niche brokers.
• Malta is also the EU's second-largest white-paper jurisdiction (145, behind Ireland's 361) and carries no entries on the non-compliant register.

The Blockchain Island, revisited

Malta branded itself the "Blockchain Island" in 2018, when it passed a trio of laws to court crypto businesses ahead of any EU framework. The reputation cut both ways — early enthusiasm, later scrutiny — but MiCA has given the claim something concrete: a register that shows exactly which firms chose Malta as their gateway to the EU market.

And the composition is distinctive. Across the EU, MiCA registers are filling with different kinds of firm depending on the country. Germany's is nearly half banks. Ireland's is dominated by white-paper filings, many notified by exchanges based elsewhere. Malta's is neither: it is the exchanges themselves, authorised on the island to passport across the Union.

A roster of global exchanges

Of Malta's 22 CASPs, none is a credit institution. They are crypto-native businesses, and many are names any crypto user would recognise:

Alongside them sit BVNK, Damex, Strike, Xcoins, Socios.com (the fan-token platform), Legion and Everest — a mix of retail exchanges, institutional prime brokers and payment-focused firms.

The headline detail is the date. OKX, Bitpanda and Crypto.com were all authorised on 27 January 2025 — under a month after MiCA's CASP regime began applying on 30 December 2024. They were among the first crypto-asset service providers licensed anywhere in the EU, and all three chose Malta.

These are full exchanges, not brokers

The service permissions confirm what the names suggest. 21 of Malta's 22 CASPs hold the custody-and-administration permission — the operationally heaviest activity under MiCA, requiring segregation of client assets, liability for loss and detailed custody policies. Most also hold exchange-for-funds, exchange-for-crypto and execution.

In other words, these are not firms dipping a toe in via a single narrow service. They are running the full stack — take custody of client crypto, match trades, convert to and from euros — from a Maltese base, for the whole EU. Three (OKX, Gate, ZBX) are even authorised to operate a trading platform, one of the rarest permissions on the register.

That is a different animal from the German cooperative banks, most of which took execution-of-orders only and left custody to a central institution. Malta's firms are the exchanges; they hold the assets themselves.

The white-paper side, and a clean enforcement record

Malta is also the EU's second-largest white-paper jurisdiction — 145 crypto-asset white papers, behind only Ireland's 361 and ahead of Germany's 107. Some of that follows the exchanges: a platform that lists tokens files white papers for them, so a jurisdiction hosting large exchanges naturally accumulates filings.

And notably, Malta carries zero entries on the MiCA non-compliant register — the list of firms flagged for operating without authorisation, which is dominated almost entirely by Italy's CONSOB. For a jurisdiction whose crypto reputation once drew scrutiny, an authorised roster of major exchanges and a clean warning list is a meaningful shift in the story.

What it tells us about MiCA

Put the three jurisdictions side by side and MiCA's single market looks like three different markets:

• Germany — crypto arriving through the banking system, nearly half the register banks.
• Ireland — a notification address, 361 white papers but only 12 CASPs.
• Malta — the exchanges themselves, 22 crypto-native CASPs, custody-heavy, no banks.

None of these is what "the EU crypto market" would suggest as a single picture. The register rewards reading country by country — and Malta's entry is the clearest sign that the Blockchain Island's post-MiCA role is to be where the exchanges are licensed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which crypto exchanges are licensed in Malta under MiCA? As of 5 August 2026, Malta's 22 authorised CASPs include OKX, Crypto.com, Bitpanda, Gemini, Gate, Blockchain.com, BVNK, FalconX, Bequant, Strike, Damex, Socios.com and Xcoins, among others.

Are any Maltese MiCA firms banks? No. All 22 of Malta's authorised CASPs are crypto-native businesses; none is a credit institution — unlike Germany, where about half the register is banks.

When were the first Maltese CASPs authorised? OKX, Bitpanda and Crypto.com were all authorised on 27 January 2025, among the first CASP licences granted anywhere in the EU after MiCA's service-provider regime began on 30 December 2024.

How many white papers does Malta have under MiCA? 145 crypto-asset white papers as of 5 August 2026 — the second-highest of any member state, behind Ireland (361).

Sources

• MICA Watch snapshot of the ESMA CASP and white-paper registers, data as of 5 August 2026. Browse the full register, the CASP hub or the Malta country profile.
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA); the CASP authorisation regime has applied since 30 December 2024. Context: MiCA regulators and the EU framework.
• Entity legal names as recorded in the register (e.g. Crypto.com as Foris DAX MT Limited, OKX as OKX Europe Limited).