DriveWealth, the US brokerage-as-a-service provider, said on 10 November 2026 that its European affiliate, UAB DriveWealth Europe, has received DriveWealth MiCA authorization from the Bank of Lithuania to act as a crypto-asset service provider across the EU, with services to be switched on for partners in phases. When Fintechbits checked the Bank of Lithuania’s register entry for UAB DriveWealth Europe on 10 November 2026, it listed only a Category B financial brokerage firm licence valid from 14 October 2024, covering four investment activities and cross-border services in 29 other Member States, with no crypto-asset service shown.

Public registers can trail licensing decisions, so this reads as a timing gap rather than a warning sign, but it leaves partners unable to confirm the exact scope from the regulator’s own page.

What the DriveWealth MiCA authorization covers

The DriveWealth MiCA authorization sits on top of the MiFID II licence the Bank of Lithuania already granted UAB DriveWealth Europe, which the company says gives it a single EU entity regulated for both securities and crypto-assets. In the announcement distributed on BusinessWire, DriveWealth pitches the result as one integration and one regulatory partner across US equities, ETFs, mutual funds, fixed income, options and, later, crypto-assets.

The release names no assets, no fees, no first partner and no launch date. It says services will become available “within the new year”, which from a November 2026 announcement points to 2027, and adds that details on timing and availability will come later. Interested firms are asked to register their interest through DriveWealth’s contact page.

Naureen Hassan, chief executive of DriveWealth, framed the order of work this way: “We’re doing the regulatory work first, so when we bring crypto-asset services online, our partners will be able to offer them through the same trusted infrastructure they already use across U.S. asset classes.”

The DriveWealth MiCA authorization also follows its partnership with Ripple, which brings RLUSD stablecoin settlement, cross-border payments and digital asset custody into DriveWealth’s stack, beginning in Europe. Fintechbits listed DriveWealth among Ripple’s multi-product customers when it covered Ripple’s $900 million revenue run rate on 28 October.

Two routes into MiCA for a MiFID firm

MiCA gives an investment firm two ways in, and the difference matters for what DriveWealth can sell. The Bank of Lithuania’s guidance on crypto-asset service providers says a MiFID II investment firm can notify the regulator under Article 60 and offer only the crypto services that mirror its existing investment permissions, after notifying at least 40 working days before it starts. Any other firm needs a full licence, and the licence sets out the services allowed.

The register entry Fintechbits read shows four MiFID activities: reception and transmission of orders, execution of orders on behalf of clients, safekeeping and administration of financial instruments, and foreign exchange linked to investment services. Under the Article 60 route, those would map roughly onto crypto custody, order execution and order transmission. DriveWealth’s wording, that it is now a regulated crypto-asset provider “in its own right”, reads more like a standalone authorisation. Which route sits behind the DriveWealth MiCA authorization decides whether partners can expect services beyond that core set, such as crypto-to-crypto exchange or a trading platform.

Fintechbits analysis

Why the DriveWealth MiCA Authorization Is Mostly About Distribution

The DriveWealth MiCA authorization is a sensible defensive move, and its value lies in keeping partners from shopping elsewhere. DriveWealth’s business is selling regulated plumbing to apps that want investing without becoming brokers. When a European wallet or neobank wants to add crypto next to US stocks, the easy answer is to buy it from a crypto specialist. Every partner that does that is one more relationship DriveWealth does not control.

By holding MiCA permissions in the same Vilnius entity that already custodies securities, DriveWealth can offer one contract, one onboarding flow and one compliance owner. That is a real advantage for partners like the Thai wallet TrueMoney, whose US stock investing deal with DriveWealth Fintechbits covered in October, if that model is repeated in Europe.

Timing is the weak point of the DriveWealth MiCA authorization. MiCA passports have been available to crypto firms across the EU since the regime took full effect, and DriveWealth is arriving with no product live and no date. Partners who wanted crypto in 2026 already had suppliers. The Ripple link helps, since stablecoin funding of brokerage accounts is a concrete use case, but the release describes that as groundwork, not a launch.

Frequently asked questions

What does the DriveWealth MiCA authorization allow?

DriveWealth says the Bank of Lithuania authorised UAB DriveWealth Europe as a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA, which can be passported across the EU. The company has not listed which crypto services or assets it will offer, and says details will follow.

When will DriveWealth partners be able to offer crypto?

DriveWealth says services will become available “within the new year” and will be rolled out to partners in phases. It has not given a launch date, so at announcement firms could only register interest through its contact page.

Which regulator supervises UAB DriveWealth Europe?

The Bank of Lithuania (Lietuvos bankas) supervises the affiliate. Its register lists a Category B financial brokerage firm licence valid from 14 October 2024, under authorisation code LB002264.

What to Watch Next

The first thing to watch is the Bank of Lithuania register, which will show the scope of the DriveWealth MiCA authorization. Once the crypto permissions appear on UAB DriveWealth Europe’s entry, the listed services will show whether this is a full licence or an Article 60 extension of the brokerage permit, and that in turn sets the ceiling on what partners can build. After that, the test is a named European partner offering stablecoin-funded or crypto trading through DriveWealth with a real launch date.