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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsKraken’s MiCA status means two Irish Kraken entities are authorised crypto-asset service providers supervised by the Central Bank of Ireland. Their authorisations are passported across all 30 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, covering specified services such as custody, exchange, order handling, transfers and operation of a trading platform.
That gives European customers a common regulatory framework and a named supervisor, but it is not a blanket approval of every token or Kraken feature. Asset listings, staking, rewards, derivatives, compensation arrangements and even the contracting entity can still differ by country and product.
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Which Kraken entities hold MiCA authorisations?
Kraken’s European permissions are held by separate Irish legal entities. The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) lists both entities as authorised under the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA), with different scopes.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →| Legal entity | CBI registration | MiCA permission described by Kraken |
|---|---|---|
| Payward Europe Solutions Limited | C468360 | Custody and administration; exchange of crypto-assets for funds or other crypto-assets; execution of orders; reception and transmission of orders; placing; transfers; and portfolio management. |
| Payward Global Solutions Limited | C559106 | Operation of a crypto-asset trading platform in Ireland. |
These are authorisations for named services, not a single licence that automatically approves every activity available through a Kraken-branded website or app. The entity named in your terms of service can determine which permission and customer protections apply.
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Where does the licence apply?
Kraken says its two MiCA CASP authorisations are passported throughout the 30 EEA countries. Passporting allows an authorised provider established in one EEA country to offer the authorised services in other EEA countries after notifying the relevant authorities, instead of obtaining a completely separate licence in each country.
The EEA scope is important. The United Kingdom is not one of the 30 EEA countries, and Kraken describes UK services under separate Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regimes. A customer who moves between an EEA country and the UK should not assume that the same entity, product permissions or protections follow automatically.
Passporting also does not make customer experience identical everywhere. National rules, local language requirements, payment arrangements, tax treatment, product eligibility and Kraken’s own risk controls can produce different results from one EEA country to another.
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Kraken’s CBI disclosures identify the principal services covered by its Irish authorisations:
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- Custody and administration: safeguarding crypto-assets and administering them for customers.
- Exchange: exchanging crypto-assets for government-issued funds or for other crypto-assets.
- Order services: receiving and transmitting customer orders and executing orders.
- Placing: placing crypto-assets in a market or offering.
- Transfers: providing transfer services for crypto-assets.
- Portfolio management: managing crypto-asset portfolios under the authorised service.
- Trading-platform operation: Payward Global Solutions Limited is authorised to operate a crypto-asset trading platform in Ireland.
The practical meaning is that these activities fall within a common EU regulatory framework and under supervision by the CBI. It does not mean every transaction is risk-free, that every token on the platform is a regulated financial instrument, or that every Kraken feature is covered by the same permission.
What changes for a European user?
A single framework and a named supervisor
Before MiCA, crypto rules differed substantially between European jurisdictions. MiCA establishes common requirements for authorised crypto-asset service providers, while the CBI supervises the Irish entities holding Kraken’s authorisations. Kraken says the framework brings stronger stated consumer-protection and transparency requirements and more robust supervisory oversight.
For a customer, the most useful change is clarity about the regulated provider behind a service. You can identify the legal entity, its competent authority and the services for which it is authorised, rather than relying only on a generic “regulated” description.
Authorisation is not an investment guarantee
MiCA regulates the provider and specified services; it does not guarantee that a crypto-asset will retain its value or that a transaction will be profitable. Kraken warns that some products and markets remain unregulated and may not be covered by government compensation or other regulatory-protection schemes.
Do not interpret the CBI authorisation as deposit insurance, a promise of reimbursement after a hack, or protection against market losses. Whether any compensation or investor-protection arrangement applies depends on the particular service, legal entity and applicable national rules.
Why are some coins and features unavailable in the EEA?
MiCA licensing does not require Kraken to offer every asset or product to every European customer. An asset may be restricted because of its classification, disclosure requirements, market-access assessment, liquidity, sanctions exposure, technical controls or Kraken’s own compliance decision. Restrictions can also be changed as rules and implementation guidance develop.
Kraken’s EEA disclosures illustrate the granular nature of these limits:
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|---|---|---|
| Listed assets identified as unavailable | EEA clients cannot deposit or trade the assets on Kraken’s restricted list. | A coin available to a customer elsewhere may not be transferable into, or tradable from, an EEA account. |
| USDG Rewards | Unavailable to EEA clients. | Holding or using the related asset does not create eligibility for this rewards programme in the EEA. |
| Babylon Bitcoin Staking | Unavailable to EEA clients. | The product cannot be used from an EEA account, regardless of whether it is offered in another market. |
| Opt-in Rewards | EEA availability is limited to Bitcoin. | Other assets may not qualify for the programme even if they can be traded or held. |
These examples are product-specific, not evidence that all EEA customers have one identical account. Check the current eligibility notice for your country, account and asset before depositing funds or moving a position.
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What happened when the MiCA transition ended?
The EU-wide MiCA transitional period officially expired on 1 July 2026, according to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) statement of 17 April 2026. After that date, an entity providing MiCA services to EU clients without a MiCA authorisation is in breach of EU law and must cease offering those services.
ESMA said authorised CASPs should actively manage the migration and onboarding of existing EU clients before the deadline. For users, the result is a reason to verify the legal entity serving the account rather than assuming that a familiar brand is authorised everywhere. A provider can have a licence in one jurisdiction while a particular service, affiliate or non-EEA customer relationship falls outside that authorisation.
How to verify what applies to your Kraken account
- Confirm your residence: establish whether you are resident in an EEA country or in the UK. The UK is outside the passported EEA scope.
- Read the contracting-entity information: open the current Kraken terms of service, regulatory disclosures or account notices and note the legal entity named for your account.
- Match the service to the permission: distinguish custody, spot exchange, transfers, portfolio management, rewards, staking and any other feature. MiCA permission for one service does not automatically cover another.
- Check the asset before transferring: review Kraken’s current EEA availability information for deposits, withdrawals and trading. Never send a restricted asset on the assumption that it can be credited later.
- Review product-specific terms: read the terms for rewards, staking, margin, derivatives or other specialised products, including whether the product is described as regulated or unregulated.
- Save the relevant notice: retain the applicable terms and restriction notice with the date you checked them. Product eligibility can change as implementation measures and national supervisory decisions evolve.
Does MiCA make funds held on Kraken protected like bank deposits?
No automatic bank-deposit guarantee follows from a MiCA CASP authorisation. The authorisation addresses the provider’s compliance and the authorised crypto-asset services. Kraken specifically cautions that some crypto products and markets may not have government compensation or regulatory protection.
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Separate the risks when assessing an account:
- Market risk: the value of a token can fall, regardless of the provider’s authorisation.
- Asset and product risk: staking, rewards, lending or other arrangements can have terms and risks beyond ordinary custody or exchange.
- Operational and counterparty risk: outages, delays, cyber incidents or insolvency are not eliminated by a licence.
- Legal-scope risk: a feature may be offered by a different affiliate or outside the MiCA permission.
Read the specific custody and customer-asset terms for the entity serving you. MiCA status is one part of due diligence, not a substitute for understanding how assets are held and what happens if a service is suspended.
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What MiCA licensing does not tell you
A licence alone does not establish the points that usually determine the cost or convenience of using an exchange:
- Trading, withdrawal or conversion fees.
- Available payment rails, processing times or limits.
- Liquidity and execution quality for a particular trading pair.
- Tax reporting or the tax treatment of your transactions in your country.
- Availability of derivatives, margin, staking, rewards or other products.
- Whether a particular token meets your risk, disclosure or investment requirements.
Those are separate commercial, technical and legal questions. MiCA can provide a regulatory baseline, but it does not set a universal fee schedule, guarantee liquidity or harmonise national tax rules.
How to compare Kraken with another exchange
If you are deciding whether to keep an account or move assets, compare the legal and practical details rather than two “regulated” labels. Use the following checklist:
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| Comparison point | Question to answer |
|---|---|
| Authorised entity | Which legal entity contracts with you, and which national competent authority supervises it? |
| Exact permissions | Does the authorisation cover custody, exchange, transfers, portfolio management and the trading platform, or only some of them? |
| Country scope | Is the provider authorised or passported for your EEA country, and are any national restrictions relevant? |
| Asset availability | Can you deposit, trade and withdraw the exact tokens and stablecoins you use? |
| Special products | Are staking, rewards, derivatives or margin available to residents of your country, and are they regulated? |
| Custody and transfers | What terms govern safeguarding, withdrawals, network support and temporary suspensions? |
| Protection arrangements | Does the specific service qualify for any compensation or investor-protection scheme, or is it expressly outside one? |
| Commercial terms | How do fees, liquidity, payment methods and tax documentation compare? MiCA does not answer these questions. |
Why the rules may still change
The European Commission continues to publish implementing and delegated acts under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. Supervisory guidance, national implementation choices and Kraken’s own product decisions can therefore alter the practical availability of an asset or feature after an authorisation has been granted.
For that reason, treat the CBI authorisation and Kraken’s stated scope as a current regulatory position, not a permanent promise that every service will remain available. Recheck the terms when you change country, open a new product, transfer a new asset or receive a notice about migration.
What Kraken’s own announcement says
When announcing its Irish MiCA licence on 25 June 2025, Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi described the CBI approval as “a powerful signal of Kraken’s commitment to expanding the crypto ecosystem through responsible innovation.” The statement expresses the company’s objective; the legally meaningful limits are the entities, services and conditions in the authorisation and customer terms.
Bottom line
For a European Kraken customer, MiCA licensing means the Irish Kraken entities are authorised for defined crypto-asset services by the Central Bank of Ireland and can passport those services across the 30 EEA countries. It improves regulatory consistency and makes the responsible supervisor identifiable. It does not approve every coin, guarantee compensation, insure your balance or make every feature available. Check your EEA country, contracting entity, asset and product each time you use a service, especially after the 1 July 2026 transition deadline.
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