Are crypto exchanges safe? How EU regulation protects you

MiCA requires providers to keep client assets in segregated custody, plus governance, capital, clear disclosure of risks and fees, and ongoing supervision. That reduces counterparty risk — the risk from the provider itself.

Regulation does not remove market risk, however. Crypto is volatile, and crypto is not covered by the Danish Guarantee Fund (Garantiformuen). A regulated exchange makes the provider safer — not the asset.

A core MiCA requirement is that client assets are kept separate from the provider’s own funds. That reduces the risk of your assets being commingled with, or used by, the company.

Check how a provider holds assets, and with which custody partner. Penning uses segregated EU custody — see our security & compliance page.

An authorised CASP is supervised by a national authority — in Denmark, the Danish FSA (Finanstilsynet). That means there is an authority the provider is accountable to, and a register where you can look up the authorisation.

An unregulated offshore exchange has neither that supervision nor that accountability.

Choose an authorised CASP and verify it in the register. Understand that the price can fall. Use strong account security, and be sceptical of "guaranteed returns" and pressure to deposit quickly.

Regulation and your own precautions work together: one protects against bad providers, the other against bad decisions.