Europe’s crypto market is starting to look a little more like the banking sector. Banks now account for nearly one in four names on the MiCA crypto provider list, after roughly doubling their presence in less than three months.
Data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) shows the number of banks on the register climbed from around 40 on June 26 to about 80 by September 16.
The broader register grew too, expanding from 243 to 349 crypto-asset service providers, or CASPs. But banks moved considerably faster, changing the balance of the market in the process.
Non-bank providers still make up the majority of the provider list, but their share fell from roughly 84% to 77%. Banks, meanwhile, increased their portion from about 17% to nearly 23%.
That shift is particularly visible in Germany, where traditional lenders are moving into digital assets at both the national and regional level.
The MiCA crypto provider list is getting a very German makeover
Germany has driven much of the recent increase, with dozens of cooperative and commercial banks appearing on the ESMA register.
Among the newer additions is Deutsche Bank, the country’s largest lender. On Wednesday, the bank announced plans to offer digital asset custody services to institutional and corporate clients in Europe.
The bank expects to receive regulatory approval for the service under MiCA in October, according to a Deutsche Bank spokesperson quoted by Cointelegraph.
But this is not just a story about one major financial institution. The register also includes a growing number of Volksbank, Raiffeisenbank and VR Bank institutions.
That matters because it suggests crypto services are spreading through Germany’s regional banking network, rather than remaining concentrated among the continent’s biggest international banks.
There is also a structural reason banks can move differently from crypto-native companies under the European framework.
Banks have a separate path into MiCA
Crypto companies seeking authorization under the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework generally apply as crypto-asset service providers. Banks, however, can access crypto services through a separate notification process.
Under Article 60 of MiCA, a credit institution can offer crypto-asset services by submitting the required information to its home regulator at least 40 working days before launching those services for the first time.
That distinction gives established banks a different entry point into Europe’s regulated crypto market. Rather than following the standard CASP authorization route, they can use the notification procedure provided by the regulation.
The result is becoming visible directly on the MiCA crypto provider list: traditional financial institutions are appearing in growing numbers alongside dedicated crypto firms.
For Europe’s digital asset industry, the register is turning into a useful snapshot of where regulated crypto services are actually taking shape. And right now, the banking sector is taking up an increasingly prominent share of that picture.