The locked-in capital required for a MiCA spot license is relatively low, between 50,000 euros ($57,000) and 150,000 euros per class, according to Patrick Gruhn, founder and CEO of Perpetuals.com Ltd. (PDC).
What gets expensive is the license itself, which can reach 700,000 euros the first year and 250,000 euros the following year for a lean company, or several million for a large exchange, Gruhn said by email. “Call it 12 to 24 months before the first authorized transaction with perhaps €100,000 in attorney fees,” he said.
As for the number of jobs that could be lost due to MiCA, there are no reliable estimates. However, many of the 80 percent of pre-MiCA platforms at risk of extinction are tiny shell entities, Gruhn said.
“This greatly exaggerates the situation,” Gruhn said. “And a lot of it is reallocation, since licensed companies have to hire compliance staff, while offshore companies don’t.”
changing environment
Nonetheless, MiCA threatens to stifle the crypto industry in some countries. The situation is particularly difficult in Poland, where national legislative delays and presidential vetoes have forced the Polish Financial Supervisory Authority (KNF) to face obstacles in establishing a fully functional crypto application and licensing regime.
Mateusz Kara, CEO of London-headquartered Morphic Financial Group with deep roots and operations in Poland, said the MiCA deadline could “wipe out Polish crypto.”
