Source: 'Like Ordering McDonald's:' Malta's MiCA Fast-Track Draws Oversight Concerns

Compiled and edited by: LenaXin, ChainCatcher

Key Points

• Malta’s regulatory framework, launched in 2018, eases the transition to the MiCA system, but some question whether its licensing process is too lax.
• The CEO of Poland’s largest cryptocurrency exchange said: “Getting a MiCA license shouldn’t be as easy as ordering food at McDonald’s.”
• Malta’s financial regulator granted MiCA pre-authorisation to EOE a month before the firm paid $500 million to reach a compliance settlement with the US Department of Justice.

Malta, a southern European island country with a population of 500,000, is becoming the first choice for crypto giants to expand into Europe. Just a few weeks after MiCA came into effect, the country issued licenses to leading exchanges such as Ouyi - licensed companies can operate in the 30-country economic zone.

The latest developments show that Gemmi Exchange has also joined the ranks of Malta license applications.

Malta's rapid implementation of MiCA has sparked controversy. Although the CASP rules pursue European unified standards, there is room for autonomy in the approval of each country. The industry questioned whether Malta's due diligence was sufficient and whether the approval was too fast.

Malta’s “fast track” for MiCA approval

The Virtual Financial Assets Act (VFA) introduced by Malta in 2018 laid the foundation for its transition to the MiCA system and was officially recognized as "substantially equivalent to MiCA."

The framework stipulates that companies holding a VFA license before December 30, 2024 can enjoy MiCA fast-track and pre-authorization qualifications.

Regulators say a mature local system could speed up approvals for existing companies.

Regulatory concerns

While Malta’s ability to quickly adapt to regulatory changes is a boon for businesses, it raises questions about the substance of its regulation.

Liat Shetret, Vice President of Elliptic, pointed out that "small jurisdictions can indeed adapt to regulatory changes faster", but questioned whether fast approvals are equipped with corresponding law enforcement capabilities. She emphasized: "It is easy to attract investment and accelerate licenses, but continuous supervision mechanisms and professional crypto enforcement teams are the key."

But local crypto practitioners point out that Malta’s familiarity with digital asset regulation is its core competitiveness.

Ian Guaci, partner at Malta law firm GTG, pointed out: “Enterprises need professional and consistent supervision, but countries that have just implemented MiCA may not have this capability.”

Przemysław Kral, CEO of Poland's largest exchange Zondacrypto, compared it to "fast food and Michelin restaurants" to explain why he gave up Malta and chose Estonia, which has stricter regulations.

He said bluntly: "MiCA approval should not be as casual as ordering fast food. The case of Ouyi being approved in four days just illustrates the problem." (Note: Ouyi was pre-authorized on January 23, 2025, and obtained the official license four days later, on January 27)

Crypto giants bet on Malta

Leading exchanges such as EuroEasy obtained MiCA pre-authorization through Malta's fast-track approval. But a month later, the company paid $500 million to settle with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations of unlicensed operations. Malta regulators also fined it $1.2 million in April for violating anti-money laundering regulations.

The Maltese regulator responded by adopting a risk-based approval principle, emphasizing "prudent assessment based on information at the time, balancing efficiency and risk." Ouyi said it has been operating in Malta since 2018 and held a VFA license when it applied for MiCA in 2023.

Erald Ghoos, CEO of EuroEasy Europe, recently explained on the X platform the reasons for choosing Malta: “We ultimately chose Malta because its overall licensed product layout is more advanced.” He revealed that the company had investigated the French and Dutch markets.

Ghoos stressed: “OE has not received any special treatment from the MFSA, quite the opposite in fact.”

Another crypto giant, Crypto.com, also obtained a MiCA license through Malta in January this year. Although the platform is licensed in many countries including Dubai, it was fined 2.85 million euros in 2023 for operating without a license in the Netherlands. The company said its Malta headquarters has been in operation for five years.

French strike back

French regulators warned that MiCA approvals carry the risk of “fast-food” approvals. The AMF chairman pointed out that some quickly approved products may lower regulatory standards and called for stronger ESMA coordination to prevent companies from choosing the most relaxed approval locations.

MiCA's authorization process has transparency issues, and the approval standards of each member state vary significantly. Although ESMA and EBA have established a coordination mechanism, the actual implementation is still not unified.

French blockchain expert Arroche pointed out: "The French AMF strictly follows ESMA standards, while countries such as Malta issue licenses before the technical details are complete, and even create a 'pre-approval' procedure that MiCA does not authorize."

This regulatory difference leads to a clear preference among companies: France has only approved three CASPs, and its strict standards caused the EU to abandon the French market in July last year.

EU regulators are reviewing Malta. According to Bloomberg, after Bybit was hacked, regulators in many countries urged ESMA to investigate EURUSD and review Malta's approval procedures. According to AFP, ESMA has launched a "peer review" of a member state with loose regulation.

An anonymous European CASP executive confirmed to CoinDesk that ESMA is indeed auditing the Malta financial regulator. ESMA and France’s AMF declined to comment.

EU Crypto Regulatory Pains

Mark Foster, head of EU policy at the Crypto Innovation Council, pointed out that France’s objection to the fast-track approval model reflects the fundamental contradiction in the EU’s implementation of MiCA: the balance between regulatory centralization and member state autonomy.

Foster raised a key question: "Should the EU choose federalism to centralize decision-making to counter China and the United States, or should it remain decentralized and respect the professional advantages of each country? The latter is vital to member states, and excessive concentration of power will harm their interests."

Crypto companies are faced with the problem of different MiCA implementation standards in different countries. The statement of Bitpanda Exchange is quite representative. When the platform obtained the German BaFIN license in January 2024, it emphasized: "This is a formal license that takes effect immediately, not an 'approval in principle' issued by some jurisdictions."

As an exchange that holds MiCA licenses from Austria, Malta and Germany, Bitpanda did not comment directly, but its statement hinted at doubts about the equivalence of the licenses.

Citizenship by Investment Program

In addition to the dispute over regulatory centralization, Malta's legal confrontation with the European Commission over its "investment citizenship program" has intensified recently. The European Supreme Court ruled a month ago that the country's "golden visa" program, which sells EU citizenship to those who invest about one million US dollars, is illegal. The European Commission said the program opens the door to money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.

“Countries that promote golden passports often also have lax regulations on offshore companies,” said Tracfin, a former investigator at the French Finance Ministry’s anti-money laundering agency. “This is no coincidence — these resource-poor economies are often tax havens that rely on such policies to stimulate development.”

Although Malta did not appeal, it said it was evaluating the legal effect of the judgment. Although the "golden visa" has no direct connection with crypto regulation, the country's model of introducing wealthy people and crypto giants is similar. Documents obtained by CoinDesk show that Sun Yuchen, the Chinese founder of OUYi, obtained a Maltese passport in March 2024.

An anonymous compliance expert who has provided services to CASPs in many countries said: “There is room for arbitrage in the European regulatory system, and companies can choose the easier option. If they flock to Malta because of slow approval in other countries, it means that we have failed to establish an effective system for formal trading institutions.”