ClearBank secures MiCAR approval to start offering USDC and EURC services across Europe

ClearBank has secured MiCAR approval to start offering USDC and EURC services across Europe, opening a new line of business in regulated digital assets.

ClearBank Europe said it is now the first Dutch credit institution to complete a notification under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation and get confirmation from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets, or AFM, to operate as a Crypto Asset Service Provider, referred to as a CASP.

Under its new CASP status, the bank said it will launch Circle’s Mint platform and offer clients access to Euro Coin (EURC) and USD Coin (USDC), two stablecoins tied to the euro and the U.S. dollar.

On one side, ClearBank is bringing digital asset activity into regulated banking channels. On the other hand, it is trying to make traditional financial services available to digital asset firms that want banking access without falling outside the rulebook.

ClearBank said different markets are moving at different speeds depending on local regulation. In the UK, for instance, ClearBank had already announced a partnership with Coinbase through what it calls the “launch of savings accounts with crypto-native exchange, Coinbase, through its Embedded Banking solution.”

European regulators are tightening MiCA standards as crypto continues getting popular

MiCA entered into force in June 2023, and the EU said:

“The regulation includes a huge number of Level 2 and Level 3 measures that must be developed before the entry into application of the new regime (within a 12-to-18-month deadline depending on the mandate).”

During that implementation phase, ESMA worked with the EBA, EIOPA, and the ECB and consulted the public on technical standards that were set to come out in three packages. The goal was to draft those Level 2 and Level 3 measures using feedback from that consultation process. Most of those measures have since entered into application after adoption by the European Commission and approval by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.

In November 2025, ESMA issued a public statement on technical specifications, saying:

“The format of order book records for CASPs operating a trading platform for crypto-assets as defined by the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/416, supplementing regulation (EU) 2023/ 1114 on MiCA, hereafter referred to as “the order-book RTS.”

That measure is referred to as the order-book RTS. ESMA also addressed data standards for all CASPs under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1140, known as the record-keeping RTS, covering records for crypto-asset services, activities, orders, and transactions.

The statement also covered how CASPs operating trading platforms must present transparency data under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/417 of 28 November 2024, called the transparency RTS. It included the format and data standards for MiCA white papers under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2984 of 29 November 2024, called the white papers ITS. It also covered the data needed to classify crypto-asset white papers under Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/421 of 16 December 2024, called the white papers classification RTS, including machine-readable requirements for that data.

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