Crypto Exchange Licences by Country 2026: MiCA, VARA, Binance, OKX

A crypto exchange licence always comes down to which legal entity, which regulator and which jurisdiction. Of the 15 exchanges covered here, OKX and Gate (Malta MFSA) and Bybit, KuCoin and BingX (Austria FMA) hold EU MiCA authorisation; BingX's European entity only got it on 13 October 2026. Dubai's VARA register lists Binance, OKX and Gate, Japan's FSA register lists Binance Japan and Gate Japan, Singapore's MAS licenses only OKX SG, and none of the 15 is licensed by Hong Kong's SFC (checked 2026-10-18). A licence covers one legal entity in one jurisdiction, and it does not guarantee the platform won't fail or get hacked.

"Is it licensed?" is one of the first questions people ask about a crypto exchange. The answer usually depends on where you live. The same brand can hold a full EU MiCA authorisation for its European entity, an anti-money-laundering registration somewhere else, and nothing at all in a third country. This guide goes region by region, then exchange by exchange, through the main licences, registrations and regulator warnings for the 15 exchanges FeeOtter supports, with a link to the regulator's register or the exchange's own licence page for each item, plus the restricted regions each exchange lists in its terms. Licensing changes often. Everything here was checked on 2026-10-18; confirm against the exchange's official page and the regulator's register before you rely on it. This is a summary of public information, not legal or investment advice.

What a licence protects, and what it doesn't

• A licence belongs to one legal entity in one jurisdiction. OKX's MiCA authorisation, for example, is held by OKX Europe Limited and covers users in the European Economic Area. The brand's global site may run under a different company and different rules, so check which entity you actually sign up with.
• Full operating licences come with client-protection duties. MiCA sets requirements on capital, safekeeping of client assets, complaint handling and disclosure, and the regulator can inspect, fine or withdraw the authorisation.
• An AML registration is a different thing. A US FinCEN MSB registration or an Australian AUSTRAC digital currency exchange registration mainly covers anti-money-laundering reporting. It does not mean a regulator has reviewed the platform's finances or how it protects client assets.
• No licence prevents losses from trading. It lowers the chance that a platform operates outside the rules. Market losses and leveraged liquidations are not covered by any of them.

Licence overview for 15 exchanges

The table only lists items we could confirm on a regulator's register or on the exchange's official pages (checked 2026-10-18). "None" in the MiCA column means the exchange was not on the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) MiCA register. "Not verified" means the exchange's official pages list nothing we could check; it doesn't prove the exchange has no registration anywhere. Details and sources by region follow in the next section.

The EU's MiCA transitional period ended on 1 July 2026. National VASP registrations obtained under the old rules no longer stand in for a MiCA authorisation, so the EU column only counts MiCA.

Licences and registers by region

This section lists, for each region, the regulator, its public register, and where the 15 exchanges stand on the register or the warning lists. An exchange not listed was not found on that register or warning page this time, which is not proof there is no record.

European Union: MiCA crypto-asset service providers (CASP)

Each member state's authority grants the licence, and ESMA compiles a CASP register (ESMA MiCA page; the register CSV was updated 2026-10-16). The same page carries a list of non-compliant entities.

Binance, Bitget, MEXC, Pionex, Bitfinex, WEEX, XT.COM, HTX, CoinW and Ourbit are not on the register. MEXC Global is on the non-compliant list instead: in September 2025 the Dutch AFM found it was providing crypto-asset services in the Netherlands without MiCA authorisation (AFM warning).

United States: FinCEN MSB and state money transmitter licences

The US has no single federal exchange licence. A business registers with FinCEN as a money services business (MSB; FinCEN MSB search) and then needs a money transmitter licence state by state. All 15 global sites list the US as restricted; the US business that exists runs on separate US platforms.

United Kingdom: FCA cryptoasset registration

Running a cryptoasset business in the UK requires an anti-money-laundering registration with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA register only works through interactive browser search, and we could not check each exchange's registration this time, so the table lists only the warnings and enforcement we could find on the FCA's own site.

Singapore: MAS digital payment token licence

The Monetary Authority of Singapore's Financial Institutions Directory lists the major payment institutions licensed for digital payment token services (MAS directory). Of the 15, only OKX SG Pte. Ltd. is on it. MAS also said that firms serving only customers outside Singapore had to stop that business when the new regime took effect on 30 June 2025, with no transition period (MAS media release).

Hong Kong: SFC virtual asset trading platform licence

The Securities and Futures Commission's list of licensed virtual asset trading platforms was updated on 2026-10-16 and has 13 names; none of our 15 is among them (SFC platform lists).

Japan: FSA registration of crypto-asset exchange service providers

On the Financial Services Agency's register (FSA register PDF, 2026-09-30 edition, 27 firms), the only names linked to our 15 are Binance Japan (Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00031) and Gate Japan (No. 00018, with "取扱いなし", none, in the crypto-assets-handled column). The FSA has also issued warnings to unregistered firms (FSA page on unregistered firms):

South Korea: KoFIU reporting

Virtual asset businesses serving Korea must report to the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit. A Financial Services Commission notice of 2026-06-24 lists 28 reported businesses, and none of our 15 is among them. The notice says any other operator serving Korean users is acting illegally, with penalties of up to five years in prison or KRW 50 million, and warns that referral activity may count as helping an unreported business (FSC notice).

Australia: AUSTRAC registration and ASIC financial services licence

Digital currency exchanges in Australia register with AUSTRAC for anti-money-laundering purposes; offering derivatives and other financial products also needs an Australian financial services licence (AFSL) from ASIC. The AUSTRAC public register would not load this time, so the table relies on exchange pages and ASIC releases.

Dubai and the UAE: VARA, ADGM FSRA, SCA

The UAE has three licensing bodies, explained under "Common licence types" below. On Dubai's VARA public register (VARA public register), the entities linked to our 15 are Binance FZE, OKX Middle East Fintech FZE and Gate Technology FZE. VARA's regulatory notices (VARA notices) name three of them:

In Abu Dhabi, Binance's licence page says its global platform runs through Nest entities supervised by the ADGM FSRA; the federal SCA licence is covered in Bybit's announcement (sources in the exchange sections below).

Monaco: Law No. 1.528

Crypto-asset services in Monaco fall under Law No. 1.528 of 7 July 2022 (Monaco legal database). Exchange and trading-platform services need an authorisation from the Minister of State after an opinion from a consultative commission; services involving financial tokens are authorised by the Commission de Contrôle des Activités Financières (CCAF). The law requires the government and CCAF websites to publish lists of authorised providers, but we could not find either list, and no official source shows any of our 15 exchanges authorised in Monaco.

Ecuador: the central bank's position

In a notice of 12 August 2024, the Banco Central del Ecuador (BCE) repeated that crypto-assets are neither legal tender nor an authorised means of payment, and that paying with unauthorised means is expressly prohibited under article 98 of the Monetary and Financial Code (BCE notice). We found no licensing regime for exchanges in Ecuador, and no official record of any of the 15 holding a licence there.

Licences and sources by exchange

Binance

Binance's global platform now runs through three entities in Abu Dhabi Global Market, supervised by the ADGM Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA): Nest Exchange Limited (recognised investment exchange), Nest Clearing and Custody Limited (recognised clearing house and custody) and Nest Trading Limited (dealing, brokerage, asset management and related activities), per Binance's official licence page. Elsewhere, Binance FZE holds a Dubai VARA VASP licence (VARA public register); Binance Bahrain holds a Category 4 crypto-asset service provider licence from the Central Bank of Bahrain (Binance announcement); and Binance Japan is registered with Japan's FSA as Kanto Local Finance Bureau No. 00031 (FSA register of crypto-asset exchange service providers).

Binance is not on ESMA's MiCA register. According to crypto.news, Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece on 24 June 2026 and, from 1 July, stopped new spot orders, deposits, new sign-ups and earn products for EU residents while keeping withdrawals open; it said it would reapply in another member state. The UK FCA says no Binance group entity holds UK authorisation. Restricted countries are on Binance's list of prohibited countries.

OKX

OKX Europe Limited received MiCA authorisation from Malta's MFSA on 27 January 2025 and appears on the ESMA MiCA register. OKX Middle East Fintech FZE holds a Dubai VARA VASP licence (VARA public register). OKX SG Pte. Ltd. is on the MAS directory as a major payment institution for digital payment token services. In Australia, spot services are provided by AUSTRAC-registered OKX Australia Pty Ltd and derivatives by OKX Australia Financial Pty Ltd, which holds ASIC Australian financial services licence 379035 (OKX Australia financial services guide). In the US, OKX Inc. runs a separate platform; it is a FinCEN-registered MSB, NMLS ID 1767779, with money transmitter licences in the states where it operates (OKX US licences page).

Per OKX's risk and compliance disclosure, regions with no service at all include Canada, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Malaysia; Australia, Brazil, the UK and others have restrictions on some products.

Bybit

Bybit EU GmbH received MiCA authorisation from Austria's Financial Market Authority (FMA) on 28 May 2025 (ESMA MiCA register); European users use bybit.eu. Other licences Bybit has announced: a virtual asset platform operator licence from the UAE Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) (Bybit announcement), a full licence from Kazakhstan's AFSA (Bybit announcement), a VASP registration with the National Bank of Georgia (Bybit announcement) and a reporting-entity registration with India's FIU-IND (Bybit announcement). In Hong Kong, a Bybit-linked company re-applied to the SFC in 2025 and is still listed as pending.

Japan's FSA warned Bybit Fintech Limited for operating without registration on 31 March 2023 and 28 November 2024 (FSA page on unregistered firms). Fully restricted regions are on Bybit's service-restricted countries page, including the US, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Canada.

Gate

Gate Technology Limited received MiCA authorisation from Malta's MFSA on 29 September 2025 (ESMA MiCA register); the European site is gate.com/en-eu. Gate Technology FZE holds a Dubai VARA VASP licence (VARA public register). Gate Japan is a registered crypto-asset exchange service provider with Japan's FSA, No. 00018; its crypto-assets-handled column currently reads "取扱いなし" (none) (FSA register). Gate's group licence page also lists an AUSTRAC digital currency exchange registration in Australia, a digital asset business registration with the Securities Commission of the Bahamas, a CySEC investment firm licence in Cyprus (395/20), a Gibraltar DLT licence and a Hong Kong trust or company service provider licence.

Section 2.5 of the gate.com global site's user agreement lists restricted regions including the US, mainland China, Singapore, Canada, Japan, the UAE, and European countries such as France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Austria and Malta.

Bitget

Per Bitget's official licence page, Bitget holds an AUSTRAC digital currency exchange registration in Australia; registrations as a bitcoin service provider with El Salvador's Central Reserve Bank (BCR) and as a digital asset service provider with its National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD); a digital asset trading and custody permit in the Tbilisi Free Industrial Zone, Georgia; a virtual asset service provider registration with Argentina's CNV; a registration with Mexico's SAT; crypto-asset service provider and OTC derivatives licences from South Africa's FSCA; and an investment dealer licence from Mauritius's FSC. It is also a member of a Swiss self-regulatory organisation, and UK users are served through financial promotions approved by an FCA-authorised firm.

Bitget is not on ESMA's MiCA register. Australia's ASIC issued an investor alert saying Bitget is registered with AUSTRAC but is not licensed to carry on a financial services business in Australia (ASIC alert). Japan's FSA warned Bitget Limited for operating without registration on 31 March 2023 and 28 November 2024 (FSA page on unregistered firms). Bitget's list of prohibited countries includes the US, Canada, France, Germany, Austria, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.

MEXC

MEXC's official pages list no licence we could check, and MEXC is not on ESMA's MiCA register. It is the exchange named by the most regulators among our 15. The Dutch AFM publicly warned in September 2025 that MEXC was providing crypto-asset services in the Netherlands without authorisation (AFM warning); the UK FCA put MEXC Global Ltd on its warning list (FCA warning); Hong Kong's SFC lists it as a suspicious platform; Dubai's VARA issued an alert in March 2026 and a notice of fines in June; and Japan's FSA warned it in 2023 and 2024. MEXC's user agreement lists prohibited regions including the US, UK, Canada, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.

BingX

BingX's European entity, MEGE zweite GmbH, runs bingx.eu as "BingX EU" and received MiCA authorisation from Austria's FMA on 13 October 2026. It covers the European Economic Area except Spain and Malta (ESMA MiCA register). The global bingx.com site's official disclaimer and trust pages mention only information-security certifications and list no other regulatory licence we could check. Registration numbers attributed to BingX elsewhere online could not be confirmed on its official pages or on a regulator's register, so we leave them out. The disclaimer's prohibited regions include the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Pionex

The contracting entity for the global pionex.com site is Marketa Trading Inc., and its terms of service state that the platform "may not be regulated as a financial institution or money transmitter" where the user lives. US users use a separate platform, Pionex US, operated by Pionex Inc. (NMLS 2284360); the Pionex US licence page lists its state money transmitter licences. The global site's restricted regions include the US, UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, France, mainland China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

KuCoin

KuCoin EU Exchange GmbH received MiCA authorisation from Austria's FMA on 27 November 2025 (ESMA MiCA register); the European site is kucoin.eu. KuCoin's Australian subsidiary has an AUSTRAC digital currency exchange registration (KuCoin announcement), and KuCoin Thailand is a separate exchange supervised by Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission (KuCoin announcement).

On warnings and enforcement: in January 2025 PEKEN Global, which operates KuCoin, pleaded guilty in the US and agreed to leave the US market for at least two years (SDNY); Dubai's VARA issued an alert on 5 March 2026 and a notice of fines on 24 June 2026 (VARA notices); and Japan's FSA warned KuCoin on 28 November 2024. KuCoin's terms of use list restricted regions including the US, Singapore, mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the Canadian provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, France and the Netherlands.

Bitfinex

In May 2026 Bitfinex announced that El Salvador's National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD) had granted its core platform a digital asset service provider licence (Bitfinex announcement). A separate platform, Bitfinex Securities, operates under licences in the Astana International Finance Centre (AIFC) in Kazakhstan and in El Salvador (Bitfinex Securities about page). Bitfinex is not on ESMA's MiCA register.

In the US, the CFTC fined Bitfinex USD 1.5 million on 15 October 2021 for illegal off-exchange retail commodity transactions and operating as an unregistered futures commission merchant (CFTC release), and on 23 February 2021 the New York Attorney General reached an USD 18.5 million settlement with Bitfinex and Tether that requires them to stop trading with New Yorkers (NY Attorney General release).

WEEX

WEEX's terms of use mention no regulatory licence or registration number, and WEEX is not on ESMA's MiCA register. The excluded regions in the terms include the US, Canada, South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UAE and Russia.

XT.COM

XT.COM's official pages list no licence we could check, and it is not on ESMA's MiCA register. Dubai's VARA published a consumer alert on 29 November 2024 saying XT.com does not hold an appropriate licence to provide virtual asset services in Dubai (VARA alert). Section 3.3.4 of the XT.COM user agreement lists prohibited regions including the US, Canada, mainland China and Singapore.

HTX

The HTX platform user agreement says the platform "may not be regulated in all jurisdictions in which it operates" and lists no licence. Section 1.2 lists fully prohibited regions including every EU member state, the US, UK, mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Russia; a separate list restricts only derivatives, for example Israel and New Zealand. The UK FCA started legal proceedings over HTX's illegal financial promotions on 10 February 2026 (FCA press release).

CoinW

CoinW's official site would not open on the day we checked, so we could not read its own licence page or user agreement. Licence claims attributed to CoinW elsewhere online could not be confirmed on any regulator's register, so we leave them out; CoinW is also absent from the ESMA, VARA, Japan FSA, MAS and Hong Kong SFC registers. Check the restricted regions in CoinW's user agreement yourself before signing up.

Ourbit

The contracting entity in Ourbit's terms is Ourbit Holdings Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands, and the terms mention no regulatory licence. Excluded regions include the US, China, Singapore, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Austria, Portugal and the Canadian province of Ontario. For other risks, see the risk section of our Ourbit rebate guide.

Common licence types explained

EU MiCA CASP

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) is the EU's single rulebook for crypto-assets. A firm authorised as a CASP (crypto-asset service provider) can passport the authorisation to other EEA countries and must meet rules on capital, safekeeping of client assets, conflicts of interest and complaint handling. Since the transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, firms without MiCA authorisation can no longer serve EU clients. You check it on ESMA's CASP register.

Dubai VARA, UAE SCA and Abu Dhabi FSRA

The UAE has several regulators. Dubai's VARA covers virtual asset activity in Dubai, the FSRA covers the Abu Dhabi Global Market financial free zone, and the SCA is the federal securities and commodities regulator. Each issues its own licences with a different scope, so when you see a "UAE licence", check which one it is.

VASP registration, MSB and AUSTRAC DCE

Many countries start with a registration regime for virtual asset businesses, mainly for anti-money-laundering: firms must run KYC, keep records and report suspicious transactions. A US FinCEN MSB registration, a Canadian FINTRAC MSB registration and an Australian AUSTRAC digital currency exchange (DCE) registration all fall into this group. The bar is lower, and it does not mean a regulator has reviewed the platform's capital or client-asset protection; in the US, the real operating hurdle is the state money transmitter licences.

Japan FSA registration

Running a crypto-asset exchange business for Japanese residents requires registration with the Financial Services Agency, and the register is public on the FSA's website. The FSA also publishes warnings about unregistered firms that solicit Japanese residents from abroad, and it notes that being on that list does not necessarily mean a firm is still operating without registration.

How to check an exchange's licence yourself

1. Start with the exchange's own licence page: usually under "Legal", "Licenses" or "About" in the site footer. Note the entity name, the regulator and the licence number.
2. Match it against the regulator's register: for the EU, the ESMA MiCA register; for Dubai, the VARA public register; for Japan, the FSA register; for Singapore, the MAS directory; for Hong Kong, the SFC platform lists; for US MSBs, the FinCEN MSB search. The name, number and website should all match.
3. Check which entity you sign with: the user agreement names the contracting party at the top. The licensed company is often a regional subsidiary, and the global site you use may be a different company.
4. Look at regulator warning lists: for example Japan's FSA list of unregistered firms, the Hong Kong SFC suspicious platforms list, VARA's regulatory notices and the UK FCA warning list.
5. Read the restricted regions in the terms: terms change, and you should not misstate where you live to get around them; MEXC's terms, for example, say it can close an account over false statements.

Here is how we checked BingX: we opened the ESMA MiCA page, downloaded the CASP register (2026-10-16 version) and searched for "BingX". The row with BingX EU as the commercial name gives the legal name MEGE zweite GmbH, Austria's FMA as the authority, bingx.eu as the website and 13 October 2026 as the authorisation date. Comparing that with the terms of the global bingx.com site shows the MiCA authorisation belongs to the European site, not the global one.

How fee rebates relate to exchange licences

A trading-fee rebate only needs your exchange UID. No password, API key or withdrawal permission is involved, and the rebate platform never holds your funds. Binding a rebate does not change your regulatory position or your asset risk at the exchange. For how rebates work and how safe they are, see are crypto fee rebates safe.

An example: a regular user (VIP 0) on the global gate.com site places a 20,000 USDT taker order on a USDT-margined perpetual. Gate's announced rate is 0.05% (Gate futures fee announcement, checked 2026-10-18), so the fee is 10 USDT. Through Fee Otter the rebate is 70%, so 7 USDT comes back (2 USDT automatic rebate from Gate + 5 USDT extra rebate from Fee Otter) and the net fee is 3 USDT. Gate's 2 USDT goes straight back into the Gate account; Fee Otter's 5 USDT is withdrawn as USDT over BEP20 and arrives as 4.985 USDT after the 0.015 USDT network fee. Gate's European site (gate.com/en-eu) is a separately licensed entity, and its official pages don't say whether the same referral programme applies there, so this example is for the global site only.

FAQ

What is a crypto exchange licence?

It is any authorisation or registration a regulator grants to one of the exchange's legal entities: an EU MiCA CASP authorisation, a Dubai VARA licence, a Japan FSA registration, a Singapore MAS payment institution licence, or a lighter anti-money-laundering registration such as a US MSB or an Australian AUSTRAC registration. Each one only applies where it was issued, and they differ a lot in scope and difficulty.

Which exchanges have EU MiCA authorisation?

According to the ESMA register (checked 2026-10-18), among the exchanges covered here the European entities of OKX, Bybit, Gate, KuCoin and BingX hold MiCA authorisation; BingX EU only got it on 13 October 2026. Binance, Bitget, MEXC, Pionex, Bitfinex, WEEX, XT.COM, HTX, CoinW and Ourbit are not on the register.

Does an MSB registration mean the exchange is US-regulated and can serve US users?

No. A FinCEN MSB registration is an anti-money-laundering registration. It does not mean the platform holds state money transmitter licences, and it is not a federal review. When an exchange mentions an MSB, still check its terms to see whether it serves where you live.

An exchange says it holds "multiple licences worldwide". How should I read that?

Check each one: which entity, which regulator, which jurisdiction. A licence only applies where it was issued; if there is no licence for where you live, those protections mostly don't reach you.

Is there a crypto exchange licence in Monaco or Ecuador?

Monaco has one: Law No. 1.528 of 2022 requires crypto-asset service providers to be authorised by the Minister of State or the CCAF, but we could not find a published list of authorised firms, and nothing shows any of our 15 licensed there. In Ecuador we found no exchange licensing regime, and the central bank repeated in 2024 that crypto-assets are not an authorised means of payment.

How often does licence information change?

Often. In 2026 alone, the EU MiCA transitional period ended and several exchanges changed their European services, BingX only received MiCA authorisation in October, and VARA issued alerts and fines against KuCoin and MEXC. Everything here was checked on 2026-10-18; confirm with the exchange's official pages and the regulator's register before making an important decision.

Further reading

• Crypto exchange KYC comparison
• Are crypto fee rebates real, and is a referral code safe?
• How to read OKX's proof of reserves
• What an exchange UID is and where to find it

Checked on: 2026-10-18 (ESMA MiCA register, VARA public register and notices, Japan FSA register, MAS and Hong Kong SFC lists, regulator releases and each exchange's official pages, as read on the day; licences and terms can change at any time). The FCA and AUSTRAC registers and CoinW's website would not load on the day, so for those we only list what official announcements show.