MiCA explainer
CASP Register 22.08.2026: Regional Growth Stalls
An explanatory note for the Baltic and Nordic segment: The ESMA MiCA register is growing to ~325-329 CASPs overall, but regional growth has stalled in recent weeks, while new additions are driven by German banks via Article 60 notifications.
As of mid-August, the ESMA MiCA register contains approximately 325-329 CASPs, but net growth is modest and primarily driven by German credit institutions (Article 60 notifications), not crypto exchanges. No new CASPs have been added in the Baltics and Nordics since June-July. This explanation includes snapshot dates and a caveat regarding tracker lag.
This is an explanatory note (not a daily news item) on an ongoing topic: how the ESMA MiCA CASP register has developed this summer from the perspective of our region - the Baltics (LV, LT, EE) and Northern Europe (FI, SE, NO, DK). The brief conclusion: the register continues to grow overall, but regional growth has practically stalled in recent weeks, while new additions are primarily driven by German banks. All figures are provided with a snapshot date, as third-party trackers lag slightly behind the official ESMA register.
Register Overview: Around 325-329 CASPs
As of mid-August, public MiCA register trackers show similar figures, differing only due to refresh lag. Outrun Advisory's snapshot on 12 August 2026 indicates 325 authorised Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs) in the EEA. Chainscreen maintains 329 entries, referencing an ESMA update on 10 August and a CSV refresh on 17 August. At the beginning of August, the number was approximately 321. Thus, net growth in the last two weeks has been modest - a few units - and there is no rapid wave of licences.
What's Driving Growth: German Banks via Article 60
The most significant aspect is not the number, but the composition. New August entries predominantly come from German credit institutions, including cooperative banks (e.g., Volksbank im Unterland eG with a date of 3 August and Volksbank Beilstein-Ilsfeld-Abstatt eG with a date of 6 August). These banks appear in the register by utilising the MiCA Regulation's Article 60 notification procedure, which allows already licensed credit institutions to provide crypto-asset services without a separate, full CASP authorisation process. This is a structurally faster route than for a new, independent service provider, and it explains why the register's growth is currently being driven by existing banks, not crypto exchanges.
Region: No New CASPs Since June-July
In the Baltics and Nordics, the latest new CASP entries date back to June and July, not August. In Estonia, the last was Lightspark Payments Europe AS (15 June); in Denmark, SafeLynx (30 June); in Latvia, AlphaRoute, Bleap SIA, and Hodleris SIA were added in June. In Norway, Firi and TÝR Markets (May) and K33 Markets, NBX, and Bare Bitcoin (June) were authorised at the beginning of summer. In Finland, Kvarn Capital received the latest licence (December 2025). Overall, the region has approximately 35-38 licensed firms (Kaupr's compilation as of 3 July), and August has not added any new entries to this number.
Sweden remains a special case: the only fully licensed CASP is Safello (October 2025). Goobit/BTCX's MiCA application was rejected by Finansinspektionen in July, and the company has appealed the decision to the administrative court; we reported on Goobit's management change in our weekly review on 22 August.
How to Interpret This
Several considerations suggest that the "stalling" should be interpreted with nuance. Firstly, some regional authorisations were concentrated in May-June, in preparation for the end of MiCA's transition period on 1 July; after this deadline, the flow of applications naturally slows down. Secondly, the Article 60 route for banks means that register growth may continue to be "bank-heavy," not reflecting the entry of new crypto exchanges or wallet services. Thirdly, third-party tracker data lags behind the official ESMA register by a few days to a week, so individual new regional firms could theoretically appear in the next refresh. Therefore, it is more accurate to say that regional growth has stalled at the time of the snapshot, rather than that it has structurally ended.
What to Watch Next
Key checkpoints: whether any new Baltic or Nordic firms appear in subsequent ESMA updates; whether the dominance of banks in additions via Article 60 continues; and what the outcome of the Goobit/BTCX appeal in Sweden will be, which affects the competitive landscape of the region's largest market. If any of these points materialise with a clear date, we will revisit them in a separate review.