DriveWealth gains Lithuanian MiCA authorisation to combine EU crypto and securities infrastructure

DriveWealth has obtained authorisation under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation for UAB DriveWealth Europe, its Lithuanian affiliate. The permission opens a route to add crypto services to the entity’s European securities proposition. The Bank of Lithuania confirmed the decision, which the group announced on 10 November. The authorisation attaches to that company and its specified activities, rather than all businesses operating under the DriveWealth brand.[1][2]

The same Lithuanian entity obtained its investment-firm licence in October 2024. Adding crypto permissions could let banks, brokers and digital wallets source securities and crypto infrastructure from one European provider. DriveWealth says services will be introduced in phases in 2027. The licence therefore precedes the customer rollout, whose initial partners and operating volumes were not disclosed.[1][2]

What the two permission regimes actually cover

The Bank of Lithuania identifies three authorised crypto services: custody and administration of crypto-assets, execution of client orders, and reception and transmission of client orders. These activities sit alongside the entity’s separately authorised investment services. The legal protection attached to a securities account does not automatically extend to a crypto holding, and US SIPC membership elsewhere in the group is not a protection scheme for every European product.[1][2]

MiCA is intended to reduce the fragmentation of crypto-service supervision across the EU through a common authorisation framework, while leaving national supervisors responsible for the authorised firm. This provides a potential passporting route, not an exemption from operational, anti-money-laundering or conduct standards. For the partner firms, the build-versus-buy calculation will therefore shift from securing a licence alone to due diligence on safeguarding, price formation, settlement, service-level agreements and outsourced controls.[1]

DriveWealth’s announcement positions crypto alongside US shares, ETFs, bonds, options and other investment products. That is a description of platform ambition across a corporate group; it is not a legal statement that a single customer contract offers every one of these instruments in every country. Some products may require other permissions, distributors or custody structures. The actual test is the list of service activities and entities disclosed in each partner onboarding agreement.[2]

DriveWealth is extending an embedded-brokerage proposition initially associated with access to US securities. The next measurable development will be a named partner launching an authorised crypto service through the Lithuanian entity. That will establish which products, customer groups and markets the combined licensing structure reaches in practice.[1][2]

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