Bitpanda Co-CEO Says European Crypto Users Have More Trust in MiCA-Regulated Platforms
Key Takeaways
- •Bitpanda co-CEO Christian Trummer said European crypto users have greater faith in regulated platforms under MiCA than in the self-custody approach favored by parts of the crypto community.
- •MiCA, the EU's first comprehensive crypto-asset rulebook, became fully applicable to service providers in December 2024 and lets firms authorized in one member state offer services across the bloc through passporting.
- •Trummer called for stricter enforcement, saying companies serving European customers without a MiCA license place compliant firms at a competitive disadvantage.
- •MiCA's transition period for existing crypto service providers ended no later than July 1, 2026, and ESMA has urged national regulators to act against firms still operating without authorization.
- •EU regulators are scrutinizing offshore firms' use of the narrowly defined reverse solicitation exemption, and how national regulators enforce the rules and treat the exemption will determine how uniformly MiCA is applied across the bloc.
European crypto users are placing greater trust in regulated platforms following the rollout of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, according to Bitpanda co-CEO Christian Trummer.
Speaking on a podcast, Trummer said users have “more faith” in regulated market participants, in contrast to the emphasis on self-custody within parts of the crypto community. He said most retail users prefer regulated providers rather than managing their own private keys. The distinction carries practical weight: a MiCA authorization subjects providers to the EU framework's conduct and consumer-protection obligations, while self-custody leaves users solely responsible for safeguarding their own keys.
MiCA, the EU's first comprehensive rulebook for crypto-assets, became fully applicable to crypto-asset service providers in December 2024, and firms authorized in one EU member state can offer their services across the bloc — a passporting mechanism intended to replace the patchwork of national rules that preceded it. Bitpanda is headquartered in Vienna.
Trummer also called for stricter enforcement of MiCA, saying some companies continue to serve European customers without the required authorization, putting compliant firms at a competitive disadvantage.
“The problem there definitely is that it's not strictly enforced by the regulators,” Trummer said, referring to firms offering services to European customers without a MiCA license.
MiCA's transition period for existing crypto service providers ended no later than July 1, 2026, requiring unauthorized firms to wind down their EU operations. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has urged national regulators to act against firms continuing to provide crypto services without authorization.
The comments come as EU regulators scrutinize how some offshore crypto firms continue serving European customers, including through the narrowly defined “reverse solicitation” exemption, which is meant to apply only when services are initiated at the client's own exclusive initiative. With the transition period closed, how national regulators act on ESMA's call for enforcement, and how they treat the exemption, are the key markers of how uniformly MiCA is applied across the bloc.
Related coverage: BitPanda was fined €70,000 in Austria's first published MiCA penalty, and EU regulators reportedly questioned Binance over its continued European operations despite a wind-down order.
Source: BitcoinKE
