BingX Secures MiCA Licence in Austria, Opening Door to EU-Wide Crypto Services

BingX has obtained a crypto-asset service provider authorisation under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, granted through its Vienna-based entity MEGE zweite GmbH, which operates under the name BingX EU.

The licence was issued by Austria's Financial Market Authority (FMA), the national supervisor responsible for vetting crypto firms seeking to operate under the bloc's new regulatory framework. MiCA, which came into force across the EU this year, requires crypto-asset service providers to obtain authorisation from a national regulator in one member state before they can offer services across the wider European Economic Area under the regulation's passporting mechanism.

For BingX, the authorisation covers four categories of regulated activity: custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients, exchange of crypto-assets for funds, exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets, and transfer of crypto-assets on behalf of clients.

EEA-wide reach

Because MiCA authorisations are passportable, the licence could in principle allow BingX EU to offer these services across all 29 countries of the European Economic Area, rather than being confined to the Austrian market alone. The company has not disclosed a timeline for rolling out services across the bloc or indicated which markets might see activity first.

Daniel Lai is CEO of BingX EU, the entity now holding the authorisation.

A global exchange's European foothold

BingX was founded in 2018 and says it serves more than 40 million users internationally. The Austrian authorisation gives the exchange a formal regulatory foothold in the EU at a time when MiCA has become the reference framework determining which crypto platforms can legally operate across the bloc.

The FMA's approval places BingX among the crypto-asset service providers that have opted to pursue authorisation through Austria, one of several EU jurisdictions that have positioned themselves as entry points for firms seeking MiCA licences. The brief does not specify which products or trading modalities offered by BingX elsewhere will ultimately be made available under the new European licence.