BREAKING: OKX Expands into Germany & Poland—Nordics GM Reveals MiCA Strategy in 99Bitcoins Exclusive

Crypto giant OKX just planted its flag in Europe's two largest economies—and they're playing the regulatory game smarter than the rest.

The German Gambit

Berlin and Warsaw now join OKX's global chessboard as the exchange outmaneuvers competitors still scrambling for MiCA compliance. Nordics General Manager Lars Holst dropped the roadmap in our exclusive: 'We're not just adapting to regulations—we're rewriting the playbook.'

MiCA's Make-or-Break Moment

While legacy finance institutions burn millions on compliance consultants, OKX's pivot turns regulatory headaches into market dominance. Their secret? Banking-grade KYC that actually works—a concept still foreign to some 'decentralized' rivals.

The Cynic's Corner

Because nothing says 'financial revolution' like begging permission from the same bureaucrats who brought us negative interest rates.

“There’s still a lot of things that need to be cleared,” Says OKX Nordics GM Moritz Putzhammer While Talking About MiCA Implications

“I’ll share one example of how MiCA has affected what we’re doing with stablecoins at OKX,” said Putzhammer. “One of the strongest products that we were offering to our clients was a product on USDC – where you WOULD get like eight or nine percent. Obviously, now we had to shut that down because there was a clear provision that you couldn’t provide interest to your customers on stablecoins – which I think, from a personal perspective, I don’t know if I would have needed the EU to protect the customer from earning interest on stablecoins. I think the motive behind it, everyone can make their own assumptions, but I think it was probably somewhere along the lines of protecting some of those who have traditionally provided interest to customers. That would be my, let’s say hot take or a spicy take on that. But I don’t know if that is true. So that’s a bit of an unfortunate thing.”

“There’s still a lot of things that need to be cleared out on that front,” he added, “but obviously from a very personal perspective, like everyone else, I am excited by stablecoins and what they provide, simply by having used them as a payment rails for my own personal and also professional transfers.”

“You don’t need to be on the same actual app as the other one who you would like to receive from or send stablecoins to. You just need to be on the same rails. This is possible through interoperability,” said Putzhammer. “It is extremely exciting to send some money to Australia within a couple of seconds.”

When asked about two topics that would be big next year, Putzhammer said RWAs and tokenized bills.

“This is just the beginning”

This is more than geographic expansion for OKX. “We’re among the first global exchanges ready to meet the region’s evolving regulatory standards head-on,” said OKX. “We’re proud to be leading the industry in transparency with 31 consecutive monthly Proof of Reserves reports, and we hold MiCA licensing in Europe.”

In Germany and Poland, the company is offering access to DEEP liquidity, low fees, and over 270 cryptocurrencies, including more than 60 crypto-Euro pairs, all on platforms that are fully licensed, fully compliant.

: 9+ Best High-Risk, High-Reward Crypto to Buy in June 2025

Key Takeaways

• After receiving MiCA license early this year, OKX launched its fully regulated centralized crypto exchange in Germany and Poland. 

• The OKX General Manager for the Nordics thinks MiCA still has a long way to go, especially when it comes to stablecoins.