Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, states in posts on LinkedIn and X that crypto exchanges operating without a MiCA-licensed European entity are illegal from July 1 — and demands that regulators enforce the rules. Ghoos himself leads a MiCA-licensed exchange.
Image: Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe.
After eighteen months of national adaptation, the deadline is almost here. MiCA entered into force on January 1, 2025, and EEA member states were given the option of up to 18 months to implement the regulation. From July 1, it is no longer legal to offer crypto services to European customers without a MiCA licence. Ghoos also makes the point that holding a licence is not enough: exchanges serving European customers through their global entity — rather than their licensed European entity — are operating in breach of the rules. Ghoos is CEO of OKX Europe, which is itself MiCA-licensed.
Ghoos makes four explicit demands in the post. To European users: move your assets away from unregulated exchanges and from global platforms that do not serve you through their MiCA-licensed entity. To crypto influencers: stop promoting unregulated services — you are harming the industry and putting your audience at risk. To exchanges that are not in compliance: you know who you are, and you have not yet contacted your European customers on your global platform. July is two months away — notify your customers now, not at the last minute. To national regulators: licensed market participants and retail consumers deserve a level playing field, and MiCA must not become a paper tiger.
A central point for Ghoos is that holding a MiCA licence on paper is not sufficient. Exchanges operating globally and serving European customers through their global entity — rather than their licensed European entity — are in breach of the rules, according to Ghoos. This is ultimately a legal question for national regulators and courts, not an exchange CEO. But the point is substantive: the structure of which entity actually serves the customer is regulatorily relevant under MiCA.
OKX is one of the world's largest crypto exchanges and has built a MiCA-licensed European structure. Ghoos's post comes from an operator that bears the costs of compliance — and that stands to gain significantly if regulators hold competitors to the same standards.
The most consequential demand in the post is directed at national regulators. Ghoos expects active enforcement, not merely the publication of rules. Licensed operators have paid the price of compliance; if regulators allow unlicensed competitors to continue operating undisturbed after July 1, it undermines the entire premise of MiCA as a common European framework.
Sources: LinkedIn and X, Erald Ghoos
