German Banks Pile Into MiCA Like It's Pretzel Day at the Bundesbank 🥨

Germany extended its dominant position among European Union–licensed crypto-asset service providers on Friday, as six of its cooperative banks were added to the European Securities and Markets Authority's MiCA register, bringing the bloc's total count of authorized CASPs to 331. The additions, identified in ESMA's latest update from a baseline of 325 on Aug. 12, were Raiffeisenbank Aidlingen, Ihre Volksbank, VR-Bank Mittelfranken Mitte, Volksbank Euskirchen, VR Bank Ried-Überwald and Volksbank Backnang. With 79 listed providers, Germany remains well ahead of France on 35 and the Netherlands on 29, having grown from 57 authorizations in late June, when the country already led MiCA registrations, according to ESMA data. Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, previously told Cointelegraph that the country's tally reflects the size of its financial sector and the number of credit institutions eligible to offer crypto services, as well as a pre-existing national licensing regime that allowed some CASPs to access simplified authorization procedures during the transition to MiCA. ESMA's asset-referenced token register remained empty, the electronic money token register held 43 entries, and the non-compliant entity list stayed at 167.

The wave of bank entries reflects a broader structural shift under MiCA, with traditional lenders expanding much faster than non-bank crypto firms. A Cointelegraph analysis of MiCA register data found the number of banks on the list doubled to about 80 from roughly 40 between June 26 and Sept. 16, lifting their share of total CASPs from around 17% to nearly 23%, while overall provider counts rose from 243 to 349 over the same period. Non-bank providers still account for about 77% of the register but have lost ground in relative terms, and the trend is being driven heavily by Germany's regional cooperative banking network, including dozens of Volksbank, Raiffeisenbank and VR Bank institutions that have secured listings alongside larger players. Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, on Wednesday said it expects to receive MiCA approval in October to launch digital asset custody services for institutional and corporate clients in Europe, with a spokesperson confirming the timeline to Cointelegraph.

The expansion is enabled by MiCA's lighter touch for established lenders, since credit institutions can enter the crypto market through a notification procedure rather than a full CASP authorization application. Under Article 60 of MiCA, a bank may provide crypto-asset services after submitting the required information to its home regulator at least 40 working days before it begins offering those services, giving incumbents a faster route than dedicated crypto firms currently face. MiCA's separate asset-referenced token, electronic money token and non-compliant entity datasets were unchanged in Friday's update, with the ART register still empty, the EMT register at 43 entries, and the non-compliant entity list at 167 names.