Crypto exchange licenses: what they cover and what they don'tBitcoin / U.S. dollarBITSTAMP:BTCUSDtakamecheckThis is not a market view on BTC or any token. It is an educational note on what a crypto exchange license actually covers, because the word "licensed" is used loosely. Usually a license covers the activities written into it, for the company that holds it, in the country that issued it. Spot trading and custody are the core. Earn and staking products, lending, and derivatives such as futures and perpetuals are often outside that license, need a separate one, or are closed to retail customers. How this looks in seven places, as of September 2026, from the regulators' own publications: 1. European Union: MiCA authorisation covers trading, exchange and custody. ESMA says MiCA does not cover crypto lending and borrowing. Crypto derivatives are MiFID II instruments, not MiCA. 2. Japan: registration under the Payment Services Act. Derivatives need a separate Type I Financial Instruments Business registration. 3. Singapore: MAS license for digital payment token services. MAS guidelines say providers should not lend or stake retail customers' assets. Derivatives sit under the Securities and Futures Act. 4. United Kingdom: FCA registration covers anti-money-laundering only. Sale of crypto derivatives to retail customers is banned. A full regime is expected from October 2027. 5. Hong Kong: SFC license for trading platforms. Staking only after the SFC modifies the license conditions. Perpetuals for professional investors only. 6. United States: no single federal license. State licenses such as the BitLicense cover named activities. Derivatives go through CFTC-registered venues. 7. Canada: platforms operate under undertakings with securities regulators; those undertakings prohibit margin and leverage. A registration is not always a license. FinCEN and FINTRAC both say that being on their money services business register is not an endorsement or a license. Five checks you can do yourself: 1. Find the company that serves you in the terms of service for your country. 2. Look that company up on your regulator's own register, not the exchange's website. 3. Compare the license type with the product you want to use. 4. Read the product's own terms; an earn or futures product may be run by a different group company. 5. Check for regulator warnings in your country.