Greece has recorded its first four crypto-asset service providers under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, as the country’s financial regulator moves ahead with formalising its crypto market.
BCash, Xenios Blockchain Group, Capital Wallet Greece and Piraeus Bank have now appeared on the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) MiCA register. The entries make Greece one of the latest EU markets to establish a regulated group of crypto-asset service providers under the bloc-wide framework.
BCash became the first Greek company to receive a MiCA authorisation on June 30, allowing it to provide approved crypto-asset services in the country. Xenios Blockchain Group and Capital Wallet Greece followed on July 22 after receiving authorisations from the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC).
Capital Wallet Greece received authorisation covering several services, including the custody and administration of crypto assets, exchanges between crypto assets and funds, exchanges between different crypto assets, execution and transmission of orders, and crypto-asset transfers.
Xenios Blockchain Group, meanwhile, was authorised to receive and transmit crypto-asset orders on behalf of clients.
Piraeus Bank’s inclusion brings a major Greek banking institution into the country’s MiCA-regulated crypto market, adding a traditional financial institution to the list of authorised providers.
The registrations come as European regulators continue implementing MiCA, which provides a common licensing framework for crypto-asset service providers operating across the EU. Once authorised, eligible providers can use the framework’s passporting mechanism to offer approved services in other EU member states, subject to the applicable requirements.
HCMC denies Binance-Lagarde claim
Greece’s progress under MiCA comes days after renewed attention on Binance’s abandoned attempt to obtain a licence through the country.
Binance withdrew its Greek MiCA application on June 24, saying it would instead pursue authorisation in another EU member state. The exchange said at the time that it had worked with the HCMC for months but decided to withdraw because there was no formal decision as the MiCA transition period approached its end.
The withdrawal later became the subject of reports claiming that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde had intervened in the process.
According to a Wall Street Journal, a senior Greek regulator allegedly told Binance that Lagarde had asked Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis not to approve the application. The report also said concerns had been raised around Binance’s compliance record and the potential impact of dollar-based stablecoins on Europe’s digital euro plans.
The HCMC has rejected the claim, saying none of its officials communicated with ECB officials about Binance’s application and denying that the reported intervention took place.
The reported intervention is significant because the ECB does not formally approve crypto-asset service provider licences under MiCA. Licensing decisions are handled by national competent authorities, such as Greece’s HCMC, while ESMA maintains the EU-level register.
Binance has not abandoned its European licensing plans. Following the withdrawal, the exchange said it would pursue authorisation in another EU member state and maintained that its commitment to operating under MiCA remained unchanged.
Greece’s four registrations therefore come at an important point for its crypto sector: local providers are beginning to operate under the EU’s harmonised regulatory regime, while the country’s handling of Binance’s application remains the subject of competing accounts.