MiCA isn't enough: Bybit CEO says Europe profits are 2 years away

MiCA was supposed to be the unlock for crypto in Europe — one rulebook to rule them all. But Bybit CEO Ben Zhou just threw cold water on that narrative, stating plainly that MiCA compliance alone is not enough to run a profitable crypto exchange on the continent. If one of the world's largest exchanges is bleeding money in Europe, the industry needs to pay attention.

How we got here

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) became fully applicable at the end of 2024 and was widely celebrated as a landmark regulatory framework — the first comprehensive crypto rulebook in the European Union. Global exchanges rushed to secure CASP licenses (Crypto Asset Service Provider), betting that a single EU-wide license would unlock access to 450 million consumers. The pitch was simple: get licensed under MiCA, and Europe is yours.

What Ben Zhou actually said — and the numbers behind it

In an interview with CoinDesk, Bybit CEO Ben Zhou was refreshingly blunt: the exchange is at least two years away from breaking even in Europe. The reason isn't just slow user growth — it's structural. MiCA covers baseline crypto services, but exchanges that want to offer a full product suite need additional national-level licenses on top of it, which dramatically inflates compliance costs. Key points from Zhou:

• MiCA handles core crypto asset services but doesn't cover every financial product exchanges want to offer.
• Individual EU member states can require separate registrations or licenses for products like derivatives or institutional staking.
• Bybit's operational costs in Europe currently far outpace regional revenues.

What this actually means

Bybit isn't a small player testing the waters — it's a top-three global exchange by volume. If they're running at a loss in Europe after making a serious regulatory compliance bet, it signals that the business model for global crypto exchanges in Europe is genuinely under pressure. MiCA was meant to reduce fragmentation, but national carve-outs are keeping the compliance burden high. The winners here are locally established European exchanges that already know how to navigate the patchwork of member state requirements.

The broader implications for the industry

This is going to act as a market filter. Smaller or undercapitalized exchanges won't be able to sustain multi-jurisdictional compliance costs and will either pull back services or exit Europe entirely. Medium-term, expect consolidation — a handful of well-funded global players and native European exchanges will dominate, while mid-tier competitors struggle. The European Commission should be paying close attention: if MiCA doesn't genuinely simplify cross-border operations, crypto capital and talent will keep gravitating toward more business-friendly jurisdictions like Dubai or Singapore.

The real question is whether Brussels will iterate on MiCA before the patience of major exchanges runs out.

Source: CoinDesk