Digital asset unicorn FalconX has been approved under Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA).
The application process in Europe was headed by the company’s regional chief compliance officer, Maruska Buttigieg Gili, who spent her early career working for the Central Bank of Malta before joining FalconX at the start of 2023.
The approval gives the California-headquartered prime broker the green light to passport its digital asset services across all 27 EU member states. FalconX currently provides trading, financing, and custody services to around 2,000 institutional clients dealing in digital assets, facilitating over $2.5 trillion in trading volume since 2018.
The company states that the MiCA approval links its dual-track framework in the US, where its subsidiary, FalconX Bravo, became the first crypto-focused swap dealer to be registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the National Futures Association (NFA) in 2022, with its November purchase of Zürich-based crypto-issuer 21shares.
In May, FalconX officially took its first steps towards going public by confidentially filing a draft S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in its native US. According to industry reports, the company has hired Wall Street heavyweight Cantor Fitzgerald to advise on the initial public offering.
FalconX is currently funded by Thoma Bravo, Wellington Management, Altimeter Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Adams Street Partners, Tiger Global Management, Mirae Asset Financial Group, and Amex Ventures, as well as GIC and B Capital Group, which co-led the company’s $150 million Series D funding round in 2022 at a valuation of $8 billion.
Other MiCA approvals this year include Canadian payments processor Nuvei, StoneX Digital, BVNK (being acquired by Mastercard), Singapore paytech Triple-A, OpenPayd, and as of this week, Standard Chartered.