European Institutions Back Digital Assets as MiCA Takes Hold Institutional confidence in digital assets across Europe is running high, according to new findings from Fireblocks. 99% of Europe
Institutional confidence in digital assets across Europe is running high, according to new findings from Fireblocks. 99% of European institutions expect the regulatory direction to be favorable or very favorable for digital asset adoption, a striking level of consensus that points to how much the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, has shifted the conversation.
The findings come from a survey of 600 or more C-suite and senior decision-makers at global and regional transaction banks, investment banks, commercial and digital banks, custodians, financial market infrastructures, and the corporates that are their clients. The research, published as part of Fireblocks' 2026 flagship report "The Financial Grid," spans both continental Europe and the United Kingdom.
88% of financial institutions have committed or will commit budget to digital asset infrastructure in 2026. However, the gap between spending and delivery remains wide. Only 16% have reached production, and that gap between production-scale spending and production-scale capability is the central finding of the report.
Within the two markets, continental Europe has moved first. 36% of European institutions had already committed budget going into 2026, with an additional 59% committing during the year. That early-mover posture is closely tied to MiCA, which gave European institutions a defined legal framework before many global peers had one. The introduction of MiCA has provided a level of clarity many global peers are still seeking.
The momentum is also visible in market activity. EUR-denominated stablecoins processed at retail virtual asset service providers have grown 12-fold over 15 months to reach $777 million in transaction volume, according to Fireblocks' State of Stablecoins 2025 report.European banks and fintechs are accelerating production deployments of MiCA-compliant stablecoins, with Banking Circle and SG-Forge among the first movers, launching EURI and EURCV respectively.
The UK, while equally optimistic on regulation, is working from a slightly earlier stage. On 30 June, the FCA published a package of policy statements which, together with Bank of England near-final stablecoin rules and legislative changes driven by HM Treasury, form the UK Digital Assets Regime. It may not have a memorable name like MiCA, but all the pieces of the regulatory puzzle are now in place.An authorisation gateway opens on 30 September 2026, with applications accepted through 28 February 2027.
For both markets, the direction of travel is clear. Regulation, once viewed as a drag on crypto adoption, is increasingly the engine behind it.
SourcesFireblocks: The Financial Grid Europe and UK Report (2026)Fireblocks: Stablecoin Adoption in Europe (2026)Fireblocks: London Is Open for Tokenized Business (2026)
