Kraken picks up MEXC's Dutch clients as MiCA forces an exit

Kraken will take on MEXC's Netherlands clients as MEXC winds down its local offering, the companies announced on August 12, with both spot and derivatives users referred to Kraken's licensed venue.

The wind-down traces directly to MiCA enforcement. The Dutch regulator AFM flagged MEXC in September 2025 for providing crypto-asset services without the required authorization, and MEXC had already suspended Netherlands fiat services, bank transfers and third-party payment options, back in March, citing regulatory requirements. The EU-wide MiCA transition period closed on July 1, after which platforms without a license can no longer onboard or serve EU customers, a deadline that has pushed a wave of unlicensed exchanges toward exits or partnerships like this one.

Kraken's pitch rests on a regulatory stack most competitors can't match. The exchange has held MiCA authorization through the Central Bank of Ireland since June 2025, MiFID authorization from CySEC covering its derivatives business, and a separate e-money authorization from the CBI. Together, Kraken frames that combination as one of the deepest regulatory footprints of any crypto platform operating in Europe.

“Markets consolidate toward fewer venues that do more. A significant share of platforms are expected to exit the EU or restrict services, and liquidity concentrates on the venues that remain.”

— Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO, Kraken

For MEXC's referred users, the practical offer is a single licensed venue rather than a patchwork of workarounds: more than 600 crypto assets, tokenized equities, and perpetual futures, all running on EUR fiat rails with quarterly proof-of-reserves audits verified by an independent accounting firm. MEXC's chief compliance officer, Robert MacDonald, framed the referral arrangement as designed "to ensure that affected users are supported through a clear and orderly process," with both companies committing to referral and transition support to limit disruption during the switch.

Referral partnerships like this one have become the default exit route for platforms caught on the wrong side of MiCA. Rather than shutting down abruptly and leaving customers to find a new venue on their own, an exiting exchange hands its user base to a licensed partner in one transaction, preserving some commercial relationship with those users while sidestepping the compliance costs of pursuing a license itself. For the receiving exchange, the arrangement functions as a low-cost customer acquisition channel that arrives pre-verified rather than cold.

• MEXC suspended Netherlands fiat services (bank transfers, third-party payments) in March 2026 over regulatory requirements
• AFM flagged MEXC in September 2025 for offering crypto-asset services without MiCA authorization
• Kraken's EU stack: MiCA (CBI, since June 2025), MiFID for derivatives (CySEC), e-money authorization (CBI)
• Referred clients get one venue covering 600+ assets, tokenized equities, and perpetual futures with quarterly Proof of Reserves

The Kraken-MEXC arrangement fits a pattern that's played out across Europe all year. MiCA's full enforcement split the region's exchanges into survivors and casualties within weeks of the deadline, and the cost of getting caught on the wrong side has been steep: Binance's own MiCA licensing failure reportedly cost it $2.4 billion in a single month after its EU exit. Referral deals like this one let exiting platforms hand off users rather than simply losing them, while licensed incumbents like Kraken absorb the liquidity that consolidation leaves behind.

This piece is informational, not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any asset.