Why crypto founders are ditching Europe for Dubai ahead of a major deadline

Crypto companies are looking more closely at the United Arab Emirates as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, approaches a July 1 deadline that will force firms without authorization to stop serving EU clients.

Irina Heaver, a lawyer at NeosLegal in Dubai, said inquiries from European founders have surged as companies weigh the cost, timing and uncertainty of securing authorization in the bloc.

"The inquiries from European founders skyrocketed," Heaver said. "They're looking to move themselves and their wealth and their ideas and their intellectual potential to a country that welcomes them."

Heaver said her firm now receives more than 120 inquiries a week from companies and founders interested in setting up in the UAE. Around half come from Europe, including Spain, Italy, Germany, as well as Switzerland and the U.K, which are outside MiCA's scope.

The pickup began about 18 months ago, before MiCA’s first rules took effect, she said. Stablecoin regulations began applying about a year ago, and crypto-asset service providers have been working through a transition period before the July 1, 2026, deadline. After that date, firms relying on legacy national regimes will no longer be able to provide MiCA-regulated services in the EU.

The inquiries come from entrepreneurs frustrated by bureaucracy and regulatory burdens in Europe.

"They're not just some random guys," she said. "They're former founders or current founders, somebody with multiple exits, somebody with years of experience in crypto."

The deadline is already reshaping the competitive landscape. Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, withdrew its MiCA application in Greece last week and notified EU users it would suspend some services while seeking another regulatory route. The company said it remains committed to Europe.

"Our ambitions in Europe remain the same, and we are confident we will secure a MiCA licence in the coming months," Binance said in a statement to CoinDesk on Thursday.

Rivals are trying to capitalize. OKX and Coinbase (COIN) announced bonuses of up to 8% of total deposits and transfers for new users the following day.

Smaller firms may have less room to maneuver. Erald Ghoos, OKX’s CEO in Europe, said 80% of crypto companies would not survive MiCA and would be forced out of the EU.

"I can see a brain drain. I can see a tax drain and also the loss of jobs,” NeosLegal's Heaver said. "If a founder with a couple of exits established in the UAE, it's going to bring new jobs to the UAE. It's going to create opportunities in the UAE … I feel Europe missed that opportunity."

MiCA creates a single rulebook for crypto across the European Economic Area (EEA), a roughly 500 million-person market that encompasses the 27-nation European Union as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

Heaver said many founders found the UAE attractive because its regulatory framework was built specifically for digital assets. Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), was created to oversee the crypto industry, while many European regulators also supervise banks and traditional financial institutions.

The difference means companies can be established in days rather than months, helping founders bring products to market more quickly. A UAE license provides access to markets across Asia, North Africa and the so-called global south, representing about 4 billion potential customers.

Heaver also questioned whether traditional financial institutions had too much influence over MiCA's development, pointing to her own experience before entering the crypto industry.

"I spent 13 years writing laws for the largest oil and gas companies before I moved into crypto," she said. "When you get the foxes to write the laws about protecting chickens, you get MiCA."

Binance remains crypto’s leading exchange, expanding from spot and derivatives into RWAs, payments, savings, yield, and broader financial services.

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