Germany widens MiCA lead as ESMA adds six cooperative banks to EU register

Germany has strengthened its lead in Europe's MiCA licensing race after the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) added six more German entities to its register of authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs) under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation. ESMA's latest update, published Friday, lifts the EU-wide total to 331 authorized CASPs. All six newcomers are German cooperative banks, taking Germany's national tally to 79 and widening its gap over France (35) and the Netherlands (29). Newly listed German cooperative banks ESMA's register update adds the following licensed CASPs, each operating as a cooperative bank: - Raiffeisenbank Aidlingen - Ihre Volksbank - VR Bank Mittelfranken Mitte - Volksbank Euskirchen - VR Bank Ried-Überwald - Volksbank Backnang Germany's lead continues to build Germany's count has risen quickly, up from 57 CASPs in late June. The pace matters because MiCA authorization is a prerequisite for offering compliant crypto-asset services across the European Union, and a larger pool of licensed providers can expand access to regulated products while intensifying competition among authorized firms. Why Germany is pulling ahead Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has previously attributed the country's high authorization count to the size of its financial sector and the large number of credit institutions eligible to provide crypto services. BaFin has also pointed to Germany's earlier national licensing regime, which enabled some firms to use streamlined procedures during the transition to MiCA, helping approvals ramp up sooner and at greater scale than in several peer jurisdictions. Token-category datasets unchanged ESMA's datasets tied to token categories were unchanged in Friday's release: the asset-referenced token (ART) register remains empty, the electronic money token (EMT) register continues to show 43 entries, and the list of noncompliant entities stays at 167. Market participants will be watching upcoming ESMA releases for whether Germany maintains the same pace of additions and whether the ART and noncompliant-entity datasets begin to move after remaining static even as CASP authorizations continue to climb.