Crypto Exchange Licenses: Do They Cover Spot, Earn and Derivatives?

Last updated 2026-09-28

Usually not. A crypto exchange 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.

What a crypto exchange license usually covers

An exchange's app can offer spot trading, an earn tab, staking, loans and futures on one screen. The license behind it is narrower. Regulators license activities, not apps, and each license lists what the company may do. The table summarises the position in seven places as of September 2026, from the regulators' own publications.

Where	Main crypto license or registration	Earn, staking and lending	Derivatives
European Union	MiCA authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider, for listed services such as operating a trading platform, exchange and custody. The transition period ended on 1 July 2026.	ESMA says MiCA does not cover crypto lending and borrowing. Staking offered as a service falls under the custody service.	Crypto derivatives are financial instruments under MiFID II, not MiCA.
Japan	Registration as a crypto-asset exchange service provider under the Payment Services Act.	Lending crypto to the exchange is not part of the current registration. The FSA's 2026 reform adds it to the regulated business.	A separate Type I Financial Instruments Business registration under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
Singapore	MAS license for digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act, which was extended in stages from April 2024 to cover custody and transfer.	MAS guidelines say providers should not lend or stake retail customers' assets.	Regulated separately under the Securities and Futures Act.
United Kingdom	FCA registration, which today covers anti-money-laundering supervision only. A full crypto regime is expected to start on 25 October 2027.	Rules for lending and staking come with the new regime.	Sale of crypto derivatives to retail customers is banned.
Hong Kong	SFC license for virtual asset trading platforms.	Staking is allowed only after the SFC modifies the license conditions (since April 2025).	Perpetual contracts may be offered to professional investors only (framework of February 2026).
United States	No single federal license. State licenses such as New York's BitLicense cover named activities like transmission, custody, buying and selling, and exchange.	Depends on the state and the product.	Offered through exchanges and brokers registered with the CFTC.
Canada	Trading platforms operate under undertakings with securities regulators and are expected to register as investment dealers. FINTRAC registration is anti-money-laundering only.	Platform undertakings restrict pledging or re-using client assets.	Platform undertakings prohibit margin and leverage.

Two things follow. First, a license in one country says nothing about the products the same exchange sells in another. Second, even inside the licensing country, an earn or futures product may sit outside the license, or be sold by a different company in the same group. ESMA notes that MiCA's protections apply only to the specific authorised company, not to the rest of its group.

A registration is not always a license

Several registers that exchanges quote are anti-money-laundering registrations. They show the company told the authority it exists and must follow anti-money-laundering rules. They do not approve the business.

United States: FinCEN says inclusion in its money services business register is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy or endorsement.
Canada: FINTRAC says registration does not mean it endorses or licenses the business.
United Kingdom: the FCA says its responsibility under the current crypto registration is limited to anti-money-laundering, and that registration does not give customers access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

On Takame, FinCEN and FINTRAC registrations are shown on exchange pages with their source, but they are not counted as licenses in the score.

Why an exchange offers different products in different countries

Because licenses are local, exchanges switch products on and off by country, and sometimes leave a country when they do not get a license. For example, OKX withdrew its license application in Hong Kong and told Hong Kong residents that trading would stop on 31 May 2024, leaving withdrawals open. Since 30 June 2025, Singapore-based firms that serve only customers outside Singapore need a license, and MAS said it would generally not issue one.

So when an exchange says it is licensed, the useful questions are: licensed where, for which company, and for which products.

How to check what an exchange's license covers

1.Find the company that serves you. It is named in the terms of service for your country, and it is often different from the brand's head company.
2.Look that company up on your regulator's own register, not on the exchange's website. The register entry shows the license type and its status.
3.Compare the license type with the product you want to use. A spot license does not cover futures; in several places earn and staking need their own permission or are closed to retail customers.
4.Read the product's own terms. If an earn or futures product is run by a different company in the group, the protections of the license may not apply to it.
5.Check for regulator warnings in your country. A warning against the brand matters even if another country has licensed it.

Takame lists the registers we read for each exchange, with a link to each record, so you can start from step 2.

Sources

Crypto Exchange Licenses: Do They Cover Spot, Earn and Derivatives?

Last updated 2026-09-28

What a crypto exchange license usually covers

Where	Main crypto license or registration	Earn, staking and lending	Derivatives
European Union	MiCA authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider, for listed services such as operating a trading platform, exchange and custody. The transition period ended on 1 July 2026.	ESMA says MiCA does not cover crypto lending and borrowing. Staking offered as a service falls under the custody service.	Crypto derivatives are financial instruments under MiFID II, not MiCA.
Japan	Registration as a crypto-asset exchange service provider under the Payment Services Act.	Lending crypto to the exchange is not part of the current registration. The FSA's 2026 reform adds it to the regulated business.	A separate Type I Financial Instruments Business registration under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
Singapore	MAS license for digital payment token services under the Payment Services Act, which was extended in stages from April 2024 to cover custody and transfer.	MAS guidelines say providers should not lend or stake retail customers' assets.	Regulated separately under the Securities and Futures Act.
United Kingdom	FCA registration, which today covers anti-money-laundering supervision only. A full crypto regime is expected to start on 25 October 2027.	Rules for lending and staking come with the new regime.	Sale of crypto derivatives to retail customers is banned.
Hong Kong	SFC license for virtual asset trading platforms.	Staking is allowed only after the SFC modifies the license conditions (since April 2025).	Perpetual contracts may be offered to professional investors only (framework of February 2026).
United States	No single federal license. State licenses such as New York's BitLicense cover named activities like transmission, custody, buying and selling, and exchange.	Depends on the state and the product.	Offered through exchanges and brokers registered with the CFTC.
Canada	Trading platforms operate under undertakings with securities regulators and are expected to register as investment dealers. FINTRAC registration is anti-money-laundering only.	Platform undertakings restrict pledging or re-using client assets.	Platform undertakings prohibit margin and leverage.

A registration is not always a license

United States: FinCEN says inclusion in its money services business register is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy or endorsement.
Canada: FINTRAC says registration does not mean it endorses or licenses the business.
United Kingdom: the FCA says its responsibility under the current crypto registration is limited to anti-money-laundering, and that registration does not give customers access to the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

On Takame, FinCEN and FINTRAC registrations are shown on exchange pages with their source, but they are not counted as licenses in the score.

Why an exchange offers different products in different countries

So when an exchange says it is licensed, the useful questions are: licensed where, for which company, and for which products.

How to check what an exchange's license covers

1.Find the company that serves you. It is named in the terms of service for your country, and it is often different from the brand's head company.
2.Look that company up on your regulator's own register, not on the exchange's website. The register entry shows the license type and its status.
3.Compare the license type with the product you want to use. A spot license does not cover futures; in several places earn and staking need their own permission or are closed to retail customers.
4.Read the product's own terms. If an earn or futures product is run by a different company in the group, the protections of the license may not apply to it.
5.Check for regulator warnings in your country. A warning against the brand matters even if another country has licensed it.

Takame lists the registers we read for each exchange, with a link to each record, so you can start from step 2.