Whitebit has received authorisation under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations from Austria’s Financial Market Authority, allowing it to provide regulated crypto services across the European Economic Area with a single licence. Cointelegraph reported on June 19 that the approval will also allow Whitebit to launch a Europe-focused platform, WhitebitEU (whitebit.eu).

MiCA is a common regulatory framework that allows companies authorised in one EU member state to expand services across the European Economic Area without additional approvals in other jurisdictions.

Whitebit’s authorisation comes with less than two weeks remaining before July 1, the end of the MiCA transition period. After that date, crypto firms operating under existing national registration systems must hold a MiCA licence or stop serving customers in the European Union.

Austria’s Financial Market Authority has so far authorised 9 crypto-asset service providers under MiCA.

As the deadline approaches, pressure is also growing on exchanges that have yet to obtain authorisation. Greece’s market regulator is reported to be set to reject Binance’s MiCA application, and France is being cited as Binance’s last route to secure a MiCA licence before the deadline.

Whitebit was founded in 2018. Its parent company, W Group, has more than 35,000,000 customers worldwide and has partnerships with Visa, FACEIT, FC Barcelona, Juventus and Ukraine’s national football team.