MEXC has begun referring its Netherlands customers — both spot and derivatives traders — to Kraken, as the exchange winds down its local service in a broader realignment of its regional strategy. The two companies said they will jointly provide referral and transition support so affected users can move with minimal disruption, framing the handoff as an orderly exit rather than a sudden cutoff (Kraken announcement).
For Kraken, the arrangement leans on a regulatory footprint it has built across EU frameworks. The company has held MiCA authorization through the Central Bank of Ireland since June 2025, alongside a MiFID authorization from Cyprus’s CySEC for derivatives and an e-money authorization from the Central Bank of Ireland, a combination it describes as one of the deepest of any crypto platform operating in Europe (Kraken announcement).
Referred clients land on a single licensed venue spanning more than 600 crypto assets, tokenized equities, and perpetual futures, with euro fiat rails and quarterly independently verified Proof of Reserves (Kraken announcement). That breadth matters for users forced to switch: rather than scattering across smaller regional desks, they consolidate onto one balance sheet with regular reserve attestations.
The tokenized equities on offer are synthetic instruments rather than direct shares. Kraken’s xStocks track the price of underlying equities but confer no shareholder or voting rights, and they are issued by Backed Assets (JE) Limited and offered through a Bermuda Monetary Authority-licensed entity; Backed’s own legal documentation stresses the products are not registered with U.S. securities regulators and carry jurisdiction-specific restrictions (Backed Assets legal documentation, Kraken announcement).
Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi characterized the move as part of a wider consolidation: “Markets consolidate toward fewer venues that do more. A significant share of platforms are expected to exit the EU or restrict services, and liquidity concentrates on the venues that remain” (Kraken announcement). MEXC chief compliance officer Robert MacDonald said the priority “throughout this transition is to ensure that affected users are supported through a clear and orderly process.”
The shift reflects a post-MiCA European market where authorization costs and compliance burdens push smaller or regionally focused exchanges toward partnership or exit. Kraken has been extending its partnership footprint elsewhere too, including a program that lets third-party crypto platforms plug into its trading rails (Kraken API Partner Program). For Dutch MEXC users, the practical next step is to watch for the referral instructions both firms promised and to verify that their new account sits under Kraken’s Irish and Cypriot licenses before transferring funds.
