Ledger CTO Says MiCA Costs Are Squeezing Europe’s Crypto Startups
Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet says the EU’s MiCA framework is raising compliance costs in ways that favor large financial institutions over smaller crypto startups. Regulators argue the stricter rules are needed for consumer protection and market trust, while banks increasingly seek crypto-native infrastructure for custody and tokenization.
What happened?
Ledger CTO Charles Guillemet says the EU’s MiCA framework is raising compliance costs in ways that favor large financial institutions over smaller crypto startups. Regulators argue the stricter rules are needed for consumer protection and market trust, while banks increasingly seek crypto-native infrastructure for custody and tokenization.
Why it matters
Ledger Chief Technology Officer Charles Guillemet said the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation is reshaping Web3 competition by making it harder for smaller crypto startups to operate in the region. According to CoinDesk, Guillemet argued that MiCA’s compliance burden has created a market split between companies that can afford the overhead and those that cannot.
Ledger Chief Technology Officer Charles Guillemet said the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation is reshaping Web3 competition by making it harder for smaller crypto startups to operate in the region. According to CoinDesk, Guillemet argued that MiCA’s compliance burden has created a market split between companies that can afford the overhead and those that cannot.
The issue matters because MiCA was designed to create a unified and safer crypto market across the EU, but industry figures say its costs may also narrow who can compete. CoinDesk reported that minimum capital requirements can range from 50,000 euros for advisory services to 150,000 euros for operating a trading platform, before additional legal, audit, insurance and ongoing compliance expenses.
The European Commission’s own impact assessment cited by CoinDesk estimated that each required white paper could cost issuers between $4,500 and $87,000, depending on complexity and legal needs. Regulators have defended the stricter framework as necessary to protect consumers and build institutional confidence in crypto markets.
At the same time, traditional financial institutions are moving deeper into blockchain services. Guillemet said spot crypto ETFs in early 2024 marked a turning point, after which banks shifted from small innovation pilots toward broader plans around crypto custody, tokenization and blockchain infrastructure.
Ledger is trying to serve that demand by expanding beyond consumer wallets into business-to-business security infrastructure. The company says it employs roughly 200 to 250 engineers and maintains a dedicated security team, though CoinDesk noted that Ledger has also faced past security incidents, including a 2020 customer data breach, a third-party cloud processor breach and a 2023 exploit tied to decentralized applications.
The result, according to the report, is a European crypto market where large banks and well-funded infrastructure firms may be better positioned than early-stage startups. That shift could make compliance and institutional trust central competitive advantages as blockchain services move further into mainstream finance.