KuCoin EU secures MiCAR licence to operate across all 27 EU states; Sabina Liu appointed MD

Published: 2026-01-27 22:33:20 |

KuCoin EU has received a Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCAR) licence authorising it to operate across all 27 European Union member states under a single regulatory framework ahead of the July 1 compliance deadline. The registration is part of KuCoin’s broader compliance and European expansion plan and is intended to provide legal certainty for its EU operations. KuCoin EU also named Sabina Liu as Managing Director; Liu previously led KuCoin’s institutional business and spent 14 years at London Stock Exchange Group. CEO BC Wong said the licence is a critical step for sustainable, compliant operations in Europe and signalled plans to deepen local operations, expand fiat‑to‑crypto onramps, custody and trading services, and improve user services. The article notes MiCAR became EU law in 2023 and replaces fragmented national rules with common standards on governance, consumer protection and compliance; firms must be approved by June 30 or face restrictions after July 1. The piece also references Binance’s parallel effort to secure MiCAR approval via Greece, which would similarly enable EU‑wide operations if granted. For traders, the licence reduces regulatory uncertainty for KuCoin’s EU business, may improve institutional confidence and liquidity on the platform over time, and removes a near‑term compliance overhang ahead of the MiCAR deadline.

Bullish

The MiCAR licence materially reduces regulatory risk for KuCoin’s EU operations, which is likely to be viewed positively by traders and institutional counterparties. In the short term, the announcement removes a major compliance overhang ahead of the July 1 deadline, which can support improved sentiment and reduce the probability of forced regional withdrawals or product restrictions on the platform. That may translate into higher trading volumes and deeper order books on KuCoin EU, giving the KUCoin platform (and any native tokens or listed assets) a modest positive price impulse. Over the medium to long term, formal EU approval improves legal certainty and institutional access (fiat onramps, custody services), which supports sustainable liquidity growth and could attract more professional traders — a structural bullish factor for platform activity. Risks remain (local implementation rules, supervisory approvals, and competitor actions such as Binance’s MiCAR bids), so the impact is likely gradual rather than immediate and concentrated on KuCoin’s market presence rather than broad crypto-market direction.