More than 1,700 unlicensed crypto platforms have been forced to cease their services for European Union customers since the MiCA regulation took full effect on July 1, 2026. When the deadline arrived, only 323 companies had successfully secured official authorization.
This gap has triggered a mass migration. Up to 10 million European crypto users are now instructed to move their digital assets to licensed platforms. However, this exodus is being exploited by bad actors. The Dutch financial authority (AFM) issued a warning that the migration process itself has now become a new attack surface.
The modus operandi is sophisticated: scammers replicate the exact language of official migration notifications, then direct victims to fake platforms resembling licensed exchanges.
Impersonating with State Documents
Their tactics do not stop at creating clone websites. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) confirmed that criminals are abusing the identity, name, and logo of their official institution. Evidence on the ground shows that scammers are even forging state documents to convince victims.
In France, the situation is similar. The French financial markets authority (AMF) received reports of scammers blatantly posing as their employees. The perpetrators contact victims and request upfront administrative fees under the pretext of recovering stolen funds. In response to this wave of scams, both AFM and AMF emphasized one standard rule: regulators will never request fund transfers through private messages.
This practice of impersonating authorities has a long history. The UK authority FCA recorded 4,465 reports of impersonation of their agency in the first half of 2025 alone, with 480 victims tricked into handing over money. A separate report from WhiteBIT also supports this trend, showing that 41% of total crypto incidents throughout 2025 involved fake investment scams or impersonation.
Avoid Exchanges for the Time Being
In the midst of this chaos, Austrian authorities took a different approach by suggesting an avoidance route. They issued an official warning for users to move their assets to self-hosted wallets to avoid migration traps.
The original intent of MiCA was indeed to clean up the industry. However, for 10 million users who must move their funds under time pressure, this regulation puts them right on the front lines of the hunt. The exit is marked, but the guards turn out to be a gang of thieves.
Reported from CoinDesk.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
