BNY Expands EU Crypto Custody as Dubai Licenses Payward and South Korea Blocks Unregistered Exchanges

Banks and regulators are putting crypto custody, exchange access and self-hosted wallets under more specific rules.

The latest regulatory moves affect different parts of a crypto transaction. BNY can now offer digital-asset custody to selected institutional clients across the EU under MiCA. Dubai's regulator has issued an active licence to Payward, the company behind Kraken, for defined services and customer groups. South Korea has decided to block access to 27 sites operated by unregistered virtual-asset businesses. In France, lawmakers on a finance committee supported a reporting requirement for large self-hosted wallets, but the proposal has not become law. For customers and payment businesses, the practical questions are whether a provider is authorized, which service the permission covers, and whether a proposed rule has actually taken effect. The French proposal, in particular, still has to survive the parliamentary process before anyone has a new reporting duty.

BNY Expands MiCA-Regulated Crypto Custody to Selected EU Institutions

BNY announced on October 8 that its Digital Asset Custody platform is available to selected institutions in the European Union under MiCA. Its European banking entity entered the European Securities and Markets Authority's MiCA register in July. The new step is an expansion of an existing custody service, not a fresh licence granted this week.

BNY says the platform can safeguard assets including BTC, ETH, SOL and USDC, using segregated client wallets and controls over private-key storage. The service is aimed at institutional clients rather than anyone opening a retail account.

A bank or payment firm assessing crypto finance services now has a regulated European custody option, but it still needs to check the eligible assets, contractual terms and its own jurisdiction before relying on it.

Dubai Licenses Payward for Broker-Dealer and Investment Services

Dubai's Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority issued Payward FZCO an active virtual-asset service provider licence on October 6. The public register entry lists broker-dealer services and management and investment services, and permits the company to serve retail, qualified and institutional investors. Payward operates the Kraken brand in the UAE.

The register defines the scope more precisely than a general statement that an exchange is "licensed." It does not list every possible crypto activity or say that every Kraken product is available in Dubai. Customers should check the local product and eligibility conditions before using a service. For crypto payment gateways building on-ramps or treasury workflows, the licence provides a verifiable operating status and a clear list of permitted activities.

South Korea Orders Blocks on 27 Unregistered Crypto-Business Sites

South Korea's Financial Services Commission announced on October 13 that access to 27 websites run by unregistered virtual-asset businesses would be blocked domestically. The communications review body made the blocking decisions on October 6 and 7 at the request of the financial intelligence unit. The measure extends restrictions already applied to the businesses' mobile apps.

Korean rules require virtual-asset businesses targeting local users to register with the financial intelligence unit and meet information-security requirements. The regulator says the measure is intended to stop unregistered operators before customer losses occur. It also says it will work with the industry on withdrawal guidance for existing users affected by a block. Anyone using an overseas crypto service from Korea needs to verify its local registration and consider whether access to funds could be disrupted.

French Finance Committee Backs Wallet Reporting Amendment, Then Rejects Budget Revenue Section

France's National Assembly finance committee approved an amendment on October 9 that would require declaration of self-hosted crypto wallets holding at least €100,000 at year-end. The text also proposes a penalty of up to €10,000 for non-declaration. It concerns wallets held directly rather than assets custodied by a crypto-asset service provider.

The committee subsequently rejected the revenue section of the 2027 budget. The wallet provision is therefore a committee-backed proposal, not an enacted reporting duty. People using crypto wallets should watch the later parliamentary text before changing their tax-reporting procedures. The current event is the committee vote and its reversal at the budget-section level, not a new obligation already in force.