Italy reminds VASPs of December 30 deadline for MiCAR alignment

Italian regulators have issued a warning to crypto service providers on the upcoming deadline to operate under the MiCAR licensing regime. The country’s 18-month grace period ends for companies that until recently used a local registration. 

Italian regulators warned crypto companies that the national legacy registrations are running out. By December 30, all local exchanges have to secure a MiCAR license or stop operations. 

The local exchange authority, CONSOB, warned all virtual asset providers of the change in the regulatory regime. 2025 is the last year when European crypto exchanges can renew their registration under MiCAR. 

The process of introducing the new regulations started in 2023, and countries had varying grace periods, but most EU countries had to switch to MiCAR by the end of 2025. 

EU-based exchanges have mostly made the biggest changes around MiCAR. Most market operators have switched from USDT to USDC, the most notable requirement as USDT lacked the approved form of bank-based reserves. 

Crypto service providers outside MiCAR must stop operations in Italy

Italian companies must re-register as Crypto Asset Service Providers, instead of their previous Virtual Asset Service Providers licensing. 

If current locally approved exchange operators do not apply for a license by December 30, they must stop all operations in Italy and terminate all contracts, return crypto assets to customers, and stop even custodial holding and administration. 

In general, MiCAR licenses typically take a few months to issue; however, many exchanges have obtained them in the past year as a means to enter the European market. Exchanges can start the process now and continue operating until they receive their new license. 

Italy ranks around Europe’s average for crypto adoption. Recently, the country saw increased usage and trading, reflecting the shift in its tax laws. Italian exchanges have mandatory reporting, and traders owe a 26% tax on crypto earnings above 2,000 EUR. 

EU decides between centralized or decentralized regulation

As Cryptopolitan reported earlier, the European Commission may push for another shift in crypto regulations, going beyond MiCAR. 

The European Parliament plans to hand over more supervisory points to ESMA. Until recently, local regulators had to handle the details of MiCAR licenses. The licenses also allowed exchanges to base their business in one country, then operate across the Euro Area. 

Local governments have complained about the new regulations after spending years implementing the MiCAR and other financial oversight requirements for crypto exchanges.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has a list of registered CASPs, which will not stop operations after December 30. Any trader may avoid confusion by checking their service provider. 

Italy has 151 locally registered VASPs under OAM, which traders can also check for also having a MiCAR license. Some of the biggest VASPs with registrations in the country include Gate, Binance, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Gemini, MoonPay, Kraken, BitGo, Bitpanda and Bitstamp. Most have secured the new license in the past year.

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