Backpack EU Completes EU Regulatory Trifecta with MiCA and Payment Institution Licenses

Backpack has secured the full set of European financial service authorizations, becoming what its CEO says is one of the few digital asset companies globally to hold all three major EU license categories simultaneously.

On May 27, 2026, Latvijas Banka issued two licenses to Trek Technologies SIA — the operating entity behind Backpack EU — making the Solana-native exchange the fifth company to receive MiCA crypto-asset authorization from the Latvian central bank. The two licenses cover crypto-asset services under MiCA and payment institution services under PSD2. Combined with the MiFID II authorization Backpack EU already held via its 2025 acquisition of FTX EU's CySEC-licensed entity, the result is a tri-license stack covering crypto, brokerage, and payments across all 27 EU member states.

What MiCA, MiFID II, and PSD2 Each Authorize

Europe's financial regulatory architecture splits regulated activity across three distinct frameworks, each requiring separate authorization:

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) governs crypto-asset service providers. Backpack's MiCA CASP authorization from Latvijas Banka covers custody and administration of crypto-assets, exchange for funds or other crypto-assets, order execution on behalf of clients, and transfer services. Once licensed in one EU member state, a provider can notify regulators and operate across the full EEA without reapplying.

MiFID II governs investment services and financial instruments, including derivatives. Backpack EU acquired its MiFID II license from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission when it purchased FTX EU in early 2025, making it one of the first platforms in Europe to offer regulated crypto perpetual futures. That license covers leveraged derivatives, a product category MiCA itself does not regulate.

The Payment Institution license (under PSD2) from Latvijas Banka enables Backpack EU to execute payments and make transfers to payment accounts across the EEA.

MiCA's July 1 Enforcement Deadline

July 1, 2026 is the date the EU's MiCA transitional period ends. Exchanges that had been operating in Europe under national grandfathering provisions can no longer do so without full CASP authorization. Backpack secured both its Latvia licenses in May 2026, ahead of the deadline.

Getting licensed in one country is a substantial undertaking. Ferrante acknowledged on July 1 that the process demands "a whole team, years of work, and an enormous amount of patience." Operating across multiple regulatory regimes simultaneously, each with distinct capital requirements, conduct obligations, and supervisory relationships, compounds that further.

What the Three Licenses Enable for EU Users

With all three licenses active, Backpack EU can legally offer European users a single platform covering spot and derivatives crypto trading (MiCA + MiFID II), regulated equity derivatives (MiFID II), and direct payment and transfer services (PSD2). The exchange has been expanding quickly on the product side: it shipped dividend tracking for tokenized stocks, USDT0 deposits via Tempo, and light mode in a single sprint earlier this month, and waived fees on US stock trading through July this week.

The xStocks AAPLx$291.26+3.4% tokenized equities infrastructure, through which Backpack offers products like SPCX (tokenized SpaceX shares) and tokenized ETFs such as DRAM, sits at the intersection of all three license types: crypto rails, securities exposure, and payment settlement. That stack is what the regulatory trifecta is designed to underpin.

How Many Exchanges Hold All Three EU Licenses?

Among major crypto exchanges, holding any one of the three EU licenses is still uncommon. Kraken holds MiCA authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland and a MiFID II license; Coinbase holds MiCA via Luxembourg. The combination of MiCA plus MiFID II plus a Payment Institution license in a single operating group is harder to confirm across the sector, which is the basis of Ferrante's "even fewer have all three" claim.

Backpack's structure, two separate European legal entities each licensed by different regulators (Latvijas Banka and CySEC), reflects how the EU framework works in practice: no single jurisdiction covers all three regulatory perimeters, so multi-jurisdiction presence is structurally necessary for a firm pursuing the full stack.

The Solana ecosystem's rapid institutional footprint in Europe gives Backpack EU's regulatory position particular timing relevance. Tokenized equities on Solana have grown at pace this year, and the EU's largest fund-distribution networks have recently signaled Solana deployment plans. A tri-licensed exchange on Solana's native rails is the infrastructure that market requires.