The MiCA Crypto Alliance launched its MiCA CASP Tracker on Aug. 5, turning public authorisation data from the European Securities and Markets Authority into a searchable directory for crypto users, businesses and compliance teams.

The tool allows users to check whether a company appears in ESMA’s Markets in Crypto-Assets register and review the services it may legally provide. Each profile can show the firm’s name, Legal Entity Identifier, home country, national regulator, authorisation date and approved service categories.

MiCA tracker makes ESMA data easier to search

ESMA currently publishes its interim MiCA register through downloadable files. The latest version was dated July 31. The regulator says it republishes the data weekly after receiving updates from national competent authorities.

Moreso, the new tracker adds search and comparison functions. Users can filter records by company, country, regulator or authorised service. This can help a customer distinguish between a firm approved for custody and one permitted to operate a trading platform, exchange assets or execute client orders.

The MiCA Regulation defines ten regulated crypto services. They cover custody, trading platform operation, crypto-to-fiat exchange, crypto-to-crypto exchange, order execution, token placement, order transmission, advice, portfolio management and asset transfers.

A company’s appearance in the register does not mean every product it offers falls under MiCA. ESMA has said crypto lending and borrowing are not covered by the regulation’s service list. The Alliance also excludes firms operating only under other rules, including businesses handling financial instruments under MiFID.

July deadline makes licence checks more urgent

The tracker arrives after MiCA’s main transition period ended on July 1. ESMA instructed unauthorised providers to stop accepting new EU clients, opening accounts and marketing covered services. Firms winding down may only take actions needed to transfer assets or close customer positions.

However, ESMA also told consumers to verify providers through its official register. Customers using unauthorised platforms do not receive MiCA safeguards, including protections covering client assets. As crypto.news reported, the deadline required firms without authorisation to secure approval or wind down covered services.

Licensing activity has continued since the deadline. ESMA added BNY’s Belgian unit and 14 other providers in a late-July update. The additions included banks, payment companies and crypto businesses.

ESMA remains the authoritative source

The MiCA Crypto Alliance stressed that its tracker is an independent research tool rather than an official regulatory database. It uses publicly available ESMA information and plans to update as new authorisations appear. However, the Alliance states that the ESMA register remains the authoritative record.

This distinction matters because ESMA says its weekly register may not immediately reflect information already held by national regulators. The database can also retain withdrawn authorisations while recording their effective end dates. Users should therefore check the authorisation status and exact approved services rather than treating a listing as blanket approval.

The tracker’s next test will be how quickly it reflects ESMA’s weekly updates, licence withdrawals and changes to approved services. It offers a simpler starting point for verification, but final checks should still be completed through ESMA and the relevant national regulator.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital and institutional crypto trading firm Tradias have completed their merger after clearing the required ownership control procedure, creating a combined digital asset infrastructure unit with about 300 employees.

The transaction was first announced in February, when the companies agreed to combine their regulated crypto businesses and expand their services for banks, brokers and other financial institutions across Europe.

The merged business will operate under the Boerse Stuttgart Digital name, while Tradias will remain the brand for trading services, according to a Wednesday announcement.

The unit will provide trading, custody, staking and tokenization services and will be headquartered in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, with additional locations in Athens, Beirut, Berlin, Dubai, Madrid, Milan and Ljubljana.

Tradias founder Christopher Beck and Boerse Stuttgart Digital managing director Ulli Spankowski will serve as co-CEOs.

Boerse Stuttgart Digital serves institutions including DZ Bank, DekaBank, Intesa Sanpaolo and Société Générale-FORGE. Tradias works with clients including flatexDEGIRO, dwpbank and European government institutions.

Tradias provides trading and market-making services for more than 150 cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Related: BNY to offer institutional crypto staking through Galaxy partnership

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South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced on Aug. 5 that it will list Grvt’s GRVT token against the Korean won, Bitcoin and Tether. 

Trading is scheduled to begin at 17:00 Korea Standard Time. Deposits and withdrawals were expected to open through Ethereum within two hours of the notice.

The new markets had not opened when this report was prepared. CoinGecko showed GRVT near $0.3235, up about 23.3% over 24 hours, with trading volume above $164 million. Because the token was already trading on other exchanges, the entire gain cannot be attributed to completed Upbit orders.

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Upbit gives GRVT access to three spot markets

Upbit will open GRVT/KRW, GRVT/BTC and GRVT/USDT markets. The won pair gives South Korean customers a direct route into GRVT without first converting their funds into Bitcoin or a stablecoin. The exchange warned that the scheduled opening “may be delayed” if deposits do not provide enough liquidity.

The exchange will accept transfers only through Ethereum. It published the contract address as 0xAD29F2723fcdBcF665F210F25E06f97477e417cF and warned that unsupported network deposits may require a lengthy return process. Upbit also stressed that Grvt Token, or GRVT, is different from Gravity, which trades under the ticker G.

For its opening restrictions, Upbit cited a previous closing price of 374.05 won and 0.2622 USDT. It displayed more recent reference prices of 385.68 won and 0.2632 USDT at 13:30 KST. These were reference figures rather than guaranteed execution prices.

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GRVT price rises before the scheduled opening

GRVT traded between approximately $0.259 and $0.338 over 24 hours. Its market capitalization stood near $37 million, based on an estimated circulating supply of 110 million tokens. CoinGecko placed its fully diluted valuation near $323 million, using the project’s one billion maximum supply.

The token was already available on exchanges including OKX, Bitget, Bybit and Bithumb. Upbit’s addition therefore expands GRVT’s Korean market access and potential liquidity rather than marking its first centralized exchange listing.

The announcement followed other recent Korean listings. Upbit opened HOME trading against the won and USDT on Aug. 4. In related coverage, the exchange added CFX across KRW, BTC and USDT markets on July 31.

Opening controls will limit early GRVT orders

Upbit will block buy orders for about five minutes after trading begins. During the same period, sell orders priced more than 10% below the previous closing price will be restricted. Only limit orders will be accepted for approximately two hours.

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The restrictions reduce the order types available while the three new books establish liquidity. Upbit has applied similar staged controls to other recent listings, including CFX and HOME.

Users must also comply with South Korea’s travel rule requirements. Deposits from providers outside Upbit’s approved virtual asset service provider list may not be credited. Transfers from personal wallets require completed ownership verification. Large deposits with unclear origins may trigger requests for information about the source of funds.

The 17:00 KST launch remains the next test

Grvt describes itself as a self-custodial trading and asset management platform operating on a dedicated Layer 2 built with ZKsync technology. It combines perpetual futures, spot trading and yield products around one account balance.

The project says GRVT has a fixed supply of one billion tokens. It plans to use the token for fee benefits, product access and other platform services. These are project-defined uses and do not guarantee investment returns.

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The next verified event is the scheduled 17:00 KST opening. Traders will watch initial liquidity, price differences between Korean and international markets and whether the increase in volume continues after Upbit orders begin. A delay remains possible if the exchange determines that available liquidity is insufficient.

Japan has established a dedicated Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division within its Financial Services Agency, elevating digital asset oversight to an independent department as the country continues expanding its crypto regulatory framework.

Japanese publication NADA NEWS reported that the Financial Services Agency announced on Aug. 5 that it will create a new Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division, with the organizational restructuring taking effect on Aug. 7.

The new department will operate under the Asset Utilization and Insurance Supervision Bureau, replacing the previous structure in which cryptocurrency-related work was handled through the Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Innovation Office and the Cryptocurrency Monitoring Office under the Comprehensive Policy Bureau’s Risk Analysis Division.

By establishing a standalone division instead of relying on office-level units, the regulator has formally elevated cryptocurrency supervision within its organizational structure.

Under the new division, the FSA will oversee three specialized offices. The Cryptocurrency Monitoring Office will continue supervising cryptocurrency exchange operators, while the newly organized Innovation Promotion Office and Digital Payment Planning Office will focus on financial innovation and digital payment policy.

The agency said the restructuring is intended to address new regulatory demands arising from financial digitalization while strengthening its ability to supervise financial institutions as technology continues evolving.

The restructuring follows Japan’s financial law overhaul

The organizational changes come only weeks after Japan approved sweeping amendments to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act that reclassified crypto assets as financial instruments.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the legislation moved cryptocurrency oversight away from the framework established under the Payment Services Act, where digital assets had primarily been treated as payment instruments.

The amended law also introduced insider trading restrictions for crypto transactions, requiring market participants to refrain from trading based on material non-public information.

At the same time, certain crypto issuers became subject to annual disclosure requirements designed to improve transparency, while penalties for businesses operating without registration were significantly increased.

According to the legislation, the maximum prison sentence for operating an unregistered cryptocurrency business will increase from three years to 10 years, while the maximum financial penalty will rise from 3 million yen to 10 million yen once the provisions take effect.

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama previously said the reforms are intended to strengthen market fairness, transparency and investor protection while expanding access to growth capital as financial markets continue changing.

Cryptocurrency regulation has continued expanding

The creation of the new division also follows several other policy initiatives that have moved cryptocurrency regulation closer to Japan’s traditional financial markets.

During a financial conference in Tokyo in July, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Seiji Kihara said Japan’s current two-times leverage cap on cryptocurrency trading is too restrictive and limits market liquidity and price discovery, according to Nikkei.

Kihara, who heads the Liberal Democratic Party’s Next Generation AI and On-Chain Finance Project Team, said relaxing the leverage limit forms part of the country’s ongoing digital asset reforms, although no implementation timetable has been announced.

Separately, the amended financial law established the legal basis for introducing a separate tax framework for cryptocurrency gains, including an effective 20% tax rate and a three-year loss carry-forward deduction. Previous reporting indicated those tax provisions are expected to take effect in 2028 after supporting regulations are completed.

The same reform package has also advanced preparations for domestic cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds. Earlier reporting by Nikkei said the Financial Services Agency is preparing revisions to investment trust rules that could allow Bitcoin ETFs once the legal framework is finalized.

Stablecoin oversight arrives as enforcement increases

The creation of a dedicated Cryptocurrency and Stablecoin Division also comes as Japanese regulators continue enforcing registration requirements against offshore cryptocurrency exchanges.

Earlier this month, Bitget announced it would stop accepting new users from Japan immediately before introducing account restrictions from Nov. 1 and automatically closing any remaining positions on Dec. 31 as it exits the market.

The exchange’s withdrawal followed multiple warnings issued by Japan’s Financial Services Agency beginning in 2023 over allegedly providing cryptocurrency services without local registration. In 2025, the Kanto Local Finance Bureau also warned BTG Technology Holdings Limited, identifying it as operating under the Bitget name, over unregistered online over-the-counter derivatives solicitation.

Alongside enforcement activity, Japan has continued promoting digital asset development through separate policy initiatives. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi previously described Web3 as part of the country’s national innovation strategy, while lawmakers have continued advancing measures covering taxation, investment products and market conduct under the country’s evolving cryptocurrency regulatory framework.

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For years, bitcoin BTC$64,196.50 trounced stocks and most other assets, and supporters pointed to that outperformance as proof it was the best store of value around. Now, one chart suggests that edge may be fading.

That chart is the S&P 500-to-bitcoin ratio. It measures how much bitcoin it takes to buy the index. Today it takes roughly 0.12 BTC, versus more than 300 BTC in 2012. The ratio moved largely lower in a steep downtrend since BTC’s inception in 2010, with the 200-week simple moving average, a barometer of long-term trend, acting like a ceiling holding a ball underwater. There were brief instances of stocks outperforming BTC, lifting the ratio, but never beyond that average.

Until now.

In recent weeks, the ratio hasn’t just topped the 200-week average, it’s established a firm foothold above it, clearly visible on the far right of the chart above. It’s not isolated to the S&P, either. The Nasdaq/BTC ratio is showing the same first-ever crossover above the 200-week average.