Opinion by: Slava Demchuk, co-founder and CEO of AMLBotAll virtual asset service providers (VASPs) registered in the EU before 2025 must comply with Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) requirements this year. Not all will be able to do so. The MiCA regulation is, in essence, a good legal framework for the crypto industry, but it also has some disadvantages, especially for crypto startups and small businesses. Looking at the case of Estonia and its implementation of crypto licenses in 2017, it is possible to predict that around 75% of VASPs will need to cease their operations in the EU. What happened in Estonia with crypto licenses? In 2017, Estonia was one of the first EU member states to introduce a crypto licensing process. Getting a crypto license (a VASP registration) was easy and fast. No physical presence, share capital requirement, or proof of having sound Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) systems in place were required. The result? By 2019, Estonia had issued around 2,000 crypto licenses. Starting in 2019, however, Estonia adopted several amendments to the law, incorporating requirements similar to MiCA. As a consequence, the majority of licensed crypto companies were not able to comply with new requirements and lost