EU MiCA register: banks double to 80 as Germany drives shift

The number of banks on the EU's MiCA crypto provider register roughly doubled between late June and mid-September 2026, climbing from about 40 to about 80 and lifting banks' share of the register from around 17% to nearly 23%, according to an analysis of ESMA register data published Sept. 18.

Germany drove most of that expansion. Dozens of German cooperative and commercial banks appeared on ESMA's list over the summer, including numerous Volksbank, Raiffeisenbank and VR Bank institutions, spreading regulated crypto services into the country's regional banking network. Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest lender, announced plans on Sept. 16 to launch digital asset custody services for institutional and corporate clients in Europe, and a spokesperson said the bank expects MiCA approval for the offering in October.

The faster route banks use

Banks do not have to go through the standard crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorisation that dedicated crypto firms do. Under Article 60 of MiCA, a credit institution may provide crypto-asset services once it has told its home regulator at least 40 working days in advance. That notification route lets a regulated bank add crypto services without the full application a non-bank CASP faces, which is one reason the bank count rose faster than the rest of the register.

What it changes for the holder

The total number of listed CASPs rose from 243 to 349 over the same window, and non-bank providers' share fell from about 84% to 77% even though their absolute numbers kept growing. For a euro stablecoin holder, more of the institutions they can reach through a bank now sit on the same MiCA register as the dedicated crypto firms. The Sept. 18 analysis does not name any bank that has begun underwriting euro stablecoin issuance, though the larger bank presence on the register is the precondition for that shift.

What to watch next

Deutsche Bank's custody service is pending MiCA approval in October, which would add the first major German universal bank to the register with a live product. The Sept. 18 figures are based on what was listed at ESMA at the time of the analysis, and the article does not say whether the bank count includes institutions still in their 40-working-day notification window. Whether any of those new bank entrants move into euro stablecoin reserve custody or issuance underwriting is not in the public data yet.