BitGo Smashes Regulatory Hurdle: Germany Grants Coveted MiCA License
Berlin just rolled out the red carpet for institutional crypto custody—BitGo becomes one of the first to snag MiCA approval in Europe’s largest economy.
Why it matters: While traditional finance still debates ’blockchain vs. legacy rails,’ regulated players are quietly building the infrastructure for the next trillion-dollar market.
The fine print: This license lets BitGo offer custodial services to German clients without jumping through extra hoops—a rare case of regulators actually speeding up adoption instead of stifling it.
Bonus jab: Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank still charges €25 per international wire while pretending stablecoins don’t exist.
Source: X
BitGo joins the list of other brokerages with a MiCA license, including Crypto.com, Bitpanda, and OKX. Those exchanges were among the first to secure the license, as they were already mostly compliant with EU regulations. BitGo also noted that banks and fintech institutions were slow to gain MiCA license for crypto activities, giving crypto native companies a head start in offering services.
The new license will belong to BitGo Europe GmbH, first founded in Frankfurt in 2023, where the company moved its headquarters. Germany is one of the EU countries with comparatively high crypto adoption and strict regulations for illegal crypto activities.
BitGo Europe offers custodial wallets, self-custodial hot wallets, as well as staking services.
The entity is already compliant and was awarded licenses in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Greece, among other EU member states. Each license is secured with the country’s local financial authorities.
The license arrived after BitGo opened a new retail service, offering trading, staking, and secure custody. The company has also strengthened its stablecoin services in compliance with MiCA, in addition to offering secure cold storage, custody, and staking services where applicable.
“As a global leader in digital asset infrastructure, regulatory compliance is at the Core of our business,” said Harald Patt, managing director of BitGo Europe GmbH.
“We are proud to receive our MiCA license from BaFin, and look forward to supporting the continued growth of crypto adoption in Europe. This license underscores our commitment to the highest standards of security, transparency, and trust.”
BitGo retains its position as top custody and staking platform
BitGo can now service multiple stakeholders, including purely crypto companies and banks. The company serves both small clients and offers scale for stablecoins, staking and other institutional needs.
BitGo currently offers custody for 80 of the top 100 digital coins and tokens. The company boasts over $100B in assets on the platform, with 9.3M wallets created. Based on the known addresses of the company, BitGo holds over $137M in various coins and tokens in its most active hot wallet.
The platform also carries over $48B in staked assets, consolidating all coins with staking rewards in a single wallet. The most active staking markets are for BTC, ETH, and SOL, but BitGo also offers niche staking solutions for 19 other tokens.
BitGo boosted its performance by becoming a prime solana (SOL) broker, along with being chosen as the top Solana custodial service. The exchange will also distribute funds to FTX creditors in the upcoming rounds of compensations in May.
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