MiCA Cracks Down on Spot Exchanges, But Leaves Perps Open

MiCA is pushing unlicensed spot exchanges out of Europe, but high-leverage perpetual futures are still easy to access through offshore platforms. That widens the gap between spot rules and derivatives oversight.

Key Takeaways

• Starting July 1, the EU is taking a tougher stance against unlicensed crypto exchanges under MiCA.
• Crypto perpetual futures fall outside MiCA, so they remain accessible through offshore platforms.
• European traders can still use high leverage there, while spot platforms are getting stricter rules.

Beginning July 1, the European Union is stepping up pressure on unauthorized crypto exchanges under MiCA. But while the spot market is facing tighter oversight, one major gap remains: crypto perpetual futures are still outside the rulebook. That leaves European users able to reach offshore derivatives platforms with high leverage even as access to spot venues gets more restricted.

Spot Market Is Getting Stricter

As the MiCA transition period nears its end, unlicensed crypto asset service providers are being told to scale back infrastructure-related operations. The goal is to clean up Europe’s spot market and give investors more protection from firms that do not have a license. It is a major step for the region’s crypto industry, but it still does not cover everything.

Crypto derivatives, including perpetual futures or perps, are not included in the law. That matters because, according to Glassnode, roughly 80 percent of crypto trading volume takes place in those markets. In simple terms, a perp works a lot like a contract for difference: traders post margin, use leverage, and never actually hold the underlying coin.

Derivatives Stay Outside MiCA

ESMA said in February that firms offering products sold as perpetual futures likely fall under the existing product intervention rules for CFDs. In other words, the label on the product does not decide the rules. If a perp meets the CFD definition, then the related requirements apply too, including leverage caps, risk warnings, margin close-out, negative balance protection, and a ban on trading incentives.

Patrick Gruhn, founder and CEO of Perpetuals.com, says that is exactly where the problem starts. He argues that European investors can still trade Bitcoin with 50x leverage on platforms like Hyperliquid, while some other venues offer as much as 200x leverage. Because those platforms are not covered by MiCA or MiFID, the EU’s derivatives rules, they do not have to provide protections such as a key information document or an enforceable loss limit.

Why This Matters for European Traders

For traders in Europe, the key issue is that tighter spot rules do not automatically make the market safer overall. If users are pushed away from regulated spot exchanges but can still reach an offshore perp platform with far more leverage in just a few clicks, the risk is not going away. It is simply moving somewhere else, which makes enforcement against offshore providers a major test for regulators.

The issue also raises a broader question about how far MiCA actually goes. The framework is meant to protect investors and reduce market abuse, but it leaves some products and services outside its scope, including financial instruments that already fall under MiFID. That is where the tension is building now: stricter rules for Europe’s spot market on one side, and a derivatives market that largely sits outside the same system on the other.