Germany has authorized 76 crypto asset service providers under the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation, the largest number among EU member states, according to the CASP Tracker.
MiCA, which took effect in December 2023, requires crypto firms operating in the EU to obtain licenses from national regulators. The authorization count shows how quickly Germany's financial regulator has processed applications under the new ruleset in the first full year of enforcement across the bloc.
The CASP Tracker, which aggregates authorizations from national regulators and ESMA filings, provides a real-time view of the MiCA licensing activity. The tracker showed 76 German CASPs as of its most recent snapshot on August 22, 2026. Other major EU economies have licensed far fewer firms: the tracker does not publish comparable aggregate figures for other member states on a single public dashboard, but Germany's lead follows from both the size of its crypto market and the pace at which its regulator, the BaFin, has processed applications.
MiCA requires authorization for firms providing custody, exchange, lending, and staking services. The regulation creates a unified licensing system across the EU and aims to reduce regulatory arbitrage that previously allowed crypto exchanges to operate across member states with minimal oversight. Before MiCA, Germany's crypto regulatory framework was fragmented; exchanges operated under banking or payment services rules or in gray zones with no specific licensing requirement.
The 76-firm count includes both pure crypto platforms and traditional financial institutions adding crypto services. BaFin has not disclosed a breakdown of application rejections or pending cases. The regulator has been processing applications faster than some peers; France's regulator had authorized fewer than 40 firms as of mid-2026, though comparable data across all member states remains incomplete.
Germany's regulatory clarity under MiCA has made it a draw for crypto firms seeking EU headquarters. Kraken, Coinbase, and other major exchanges have established or expanded German entities to service the continent. The rate of new MiCA authorizations in Germany may slow as the pool of compliant applicants diminishes and regulators tighten scrutiny on application quality rather than speed.
The document to watch is ESMA's next published register of authorized CASPs, due to be updated quarterly; if Germany's count has grown materially beyond 76 by the end of Q4 2026, it would show a sustained acceleration in applications rather than a plateau.
