Revolut, Blockchain.com and Swiss-based Bitcoin app Relai disclosed that they have each secured licences under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. The milestone places the firms among the first wave of regulated crypto-asset service providers operating under the bloc’s new harmonized rulebook.
Revolut, which reported more than 65 million users and a valuation above 45 billion dollars earlier this year, indicated that the licence enables it to market and deliver its full crypto product suite across all 30 jurisdictions in the European Economic Area. The London-based fintech launched its Revolut X trading interface for users in the United Kingdom and the EEA in March, signalling an escalation of its crypto distribution.
MiCA replaces VASP-era patchwork
Before MiCA entered into force at the end of last year, firms could operate continent-wide if they held a virtual asset service provider registration from at least one EU or EEA state. The new regime reclassifies active firms as crypto-asset service providers and, in most cases, offered an up to 18-month transition window to obtain a MiCA licence. The architecture is designed to replace national patchworks with a single authorisation and uniform compliance floor for consumer protection, prudential rules and market integrity.
Revolut received its licence from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission. Blockchain.com secured authorisation from the Malta Financial Services Authority. The company emphasised that EU-wide clarity allows it to expand services, including digital-asset custody, institutional treasury tooling and market-specific products built for EU jurisdictions, with the expectation that the licence removes legal fragmentation across member states.
Relai joins early cohort; more firms in the queue
Relai, headquartered in Switzerland, said the French Financial Markets Authority granted its MiCA licence. The firm framed the approval as a position among early movers and signalled plans to prioritise expansion into France before widening to the broader European market. Other firms already known to have obtained MiCA licences include Kraken, Gemini and Bitvavo, underscoring a broad shift among global platforms to anchor EU operations under the unified perimeter before the transition window closes.
Parallel developments in licensing and expansion
Separately, Plasma — a Layer-1 network focused on stablecoins — disclosed that it has obtained a VASP licence in Italy and opened an office in Amsterdam as part of its European expansion. The company indicated that a MiCA licence application is under preparation, suggesting that growth initiatives are being sequenced ahead of full alignment with the CASP perimeter.
Regulatory clarity seen as an accelerator
Collectively, the latest licences indicate that major retail-scale and institutional-facing players are opting into formal oversight rather than relying on the expiring transition period. The firms are treating authorisation as a competitive lever for distribution and trust, not simply a compliance obligation. With custody, execution, treasury tooling and consumer access now fitting under one EU-wide permission set, the policy posture assumes that scale and cross-border harmonisation are more likely to accelerate once MiCA compliance becomes the baseline rather than the differentiator.
