OKX receives pre-authorization for MiCA compliance via Malta hub

Cryptocurrency exchange OKX has received pre-authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, the exchange announced to Cointelegraph on Jan. 23.

Granted by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) on Jan. 22, the pre-authorization means that the firm has completed the regulator’s review process and is eligible to be approved for a full MiCA license, OKX Europe’s general manager, Erald Ghoos, told Cointelegraph.

“It signals the very end of our MiCA application process,” Ghoos said.

Following pre-authorization, OKX intends to obtain a full MiCA license through its dedicated hub in Malta, planning to offer a wide range of services and token pairs.

OKX says it will list more than 240 tokens in compliance with MiCA

Once it receives full MiCA approval, the exchange aims to offer localized crypto services to more than 400 million users in Europe and support more than 240 tokens.

In addition to spot trading, OKX also plans to provide over-the-counter trading and bot trading, supporting at least 260 trading pairs against the euro.

However, OKX did not clarify what cryptocurrencies are likely to be listed on the exchange following full MiCA approval.

Amid uncertainty surrounding Tether USDt (USDT) compliance with MiCA, OKX declined to comment on whether it plans to delist the stablecoin.

OKX selected Malta as the MiCA hub in 2024

OKX’s MiCA pre-authorization comes months after the exchange selected Malta as its European hub to comply with the EU’s new crypto regulations.

In July 2024, OKX Europe’s Ghoos said the exchange had a team in Malta and was actively preparing for MiCA’s implementation, which took full force on Dec. 30, 2024.

At the time, OKX also said it expected to offer crypto staking to EU residents under MiCA, while the OKX Europe director expected that the uplift to new EU crypto standards would be “minimal.”

The growing number of exchanges planning MiCA licenses

Other exchanges, such as Gemini, also announced its intention to obtain a MiCA license in Malta, expressing commitment to offer its services in Europe through a local hub in the country.

Crypto.com, another major global crypto exchange, announced its intention to obtain a MiCA license on Jan. 17. Unlike Gemini and OKX, Crypto.com did not specify what jurisdiction it had selected for securing the license.

Related: EU’s new ‘DORA’ rules come into effect: What does it mean for crypto?

Since the EU’s MiCA entered into full effect, only a few crypto asset service providers (CASP) have obtained the MiCA license.

Crypto platform MoonPay was among the first CASPs to receive one from the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) on Dec. 30, alongside other firms, including BitStaete, Zebedee Europe and Zebedee Europe.

German stock exchange Boerse Stuttgart, a leading exchange group in Europe, became the first CASP in Germany to receive a full MiCA license on Jan. 17.

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