Coinbase taps Ireland as European hub ahead of MiCA regime

Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, has selected Ireland as its European hub, the firm announced on Wednesday.

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Fast Facts

• Coinbase selected Ireland as its base location in the European Union to comply with the bloc’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework, set to take effect in Decemeber 2024.

• This will allow Coinbase to serve one of the largest economies in the world under one set of regulations, Coinbase said in a blog post. The EU has a population of 450 million people across 27 countries. 

• Under the MiCA, crypto firms and exchanges are required to secure licenses to operate across the bloc while stablecoin issuers are mandated to hold suitable reserves.

• Coinbase currently holds an e-money institution license and a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Ireland, as well as a crypto license in Germany and several national registrations in other European states like Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

• As part of the exchange’s European expansion, Coinbase announced that Germany will become its regional talent hub, on Oct. 16.

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