BitGo is positioning its Crypto-as-a-Service platform as a lifeline for European crypto firms scrambling to meet the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory deadline, offering an alternative to building expensive standalone compliance infrastructure from scratch.
Market Context
The final deadline for crypto firms operating in Europe to have transitioned to the MiCA regime is June 30, representing one of the most significant regulatory inflection points for the digital assets industry on the continent. Industry estimates suggest that more than 3,000 registered crypto firms existed across Europe as of 2024, with Poland alone accounting for over 1,400 registrations.
As of May 2026, only 194 authorized Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs), including credit institutions, have obtained full regulatory approval. According to law firm Hogan Lovells, approximately 75% of the pre-MiCA registered population is expected to lose their registration status as transitional periods expire at month-end.
Analysis
BitGo Europe, which holds authorization from German regulator BaFin, is pitching its platform as a compliance bridge for firms that have completed necessary know-your-customer (KYC) work on existing clients but lack MiCA licensing themselves. CEO Mike Belshe outlined how companies can integrate their current wallet infrastructure into BitGo's regulated framework while maintaining client relationships.
All of your clients can be onboarded and have sub-accounts inside of BitGo, Belshe said in an interview. They are your clients: you help them with support, you help them with all of the products, you do all that stuff, we don't do any of that. But they are now in segregated safe storage that's MiCA-compliant.
The offering targets firms that have already invested in client onboarding but face either prohibitive costs or lengthy timelines to secure their own CASP licenses before the deadline. BitGo emphasizes that eligible businesses can continue evaluating or pursuing independent MiCA authorization in parallel while operating through its infrastructure.
Regulators are aware of BitGo's compliance-enhancing infrastructure offering, according to Belshe, who argued that firms should not have to cease operations due to regulatory requirements when viable pathways exist.
Key Numbers
- 3,000+ registered crypto firms estimated across Europe as of 2024
- 1,400+ registrations from Poland alone in the pre-MiCA landscape
- 194 authorized CASPs (including credit institutions) as of May 2026
- ~75% of pre-MiCA population expected to lose registration status by month-end
- Monthly minimum fees: a couple thousand dollars per month, scaling with volume
What to Watch
The June 30 deadline marks the end of MiCA's transitional period and will force firms without compliant infrastructure or licenses to cease European operations. BitGo's Crypto-as-a-Service pricing model offers variable transaction-based plans or fixed-fee static plans, potentially making compliance accessible to smaller operators that cannot justify building standalone regulated stacks.
Watch for the pace of CASP authorizations in coming weeks as regulators process applications before the deadline. Firms utilizing third-party infrastructure solutions like BitGo may face scrutiny over the depth of client relationships and service differentiation they can maintain while relying on a licensed partner's underlying framework.