We spent the first half of 2026 tracking what changed for European businesses using Bitcoin.
This is the number I keep coming back to:
European entities collectively hold roughly 273,000 BTC.
The breakdown:
- ETFs and exchanges: 144,907 BTC
- Governments: 107,686 BTC
- Public and private companies: 20,323 BTC
Companies hold only about 7% of the Bitcoin held by European entities.
Europe still has a significant Bitcoin economy. BTC Map now lists roughly 26,000 merchants across the continent, growing by around 13% quarter-on-quarter. Bitcoin commerce here is real and expanding.
But the 7% figure is thinner than it first appears.
Three companies hold more Bitcoin than every other listed European company combined. More than half of the companies on the list hold fewer than 100 BTC.
That concentration tells us something important: Europe has Bitcoin exposure, but relatively little corporate adoption.
The rest of the report looks at the machinery behind that 7% and the forces that could either accelerate or constrain it.
Regulation and banking
MiCA’s transitional period closed on 1 July. Before the deadline, 3,167 firms held national registrations. Today, only 244 hold full authorisation. Ten EU member states have not issued a single authorisation.
DAC8 is also changing the tax landscape. Tax reporting is moving from self-reporting toward a system where providers file returns identifying customers and itemising their crypto transactions.
Bank access remains another major constraint. The 1,250% risk weight applied to crypto exposures is a significant reason banks continue to treat crypto businesses as high-risk—regardless of how strong the individual business may be.
Germany’s famous “0% tax after one year” is also narrower than many assume. It applies to private individuals, not GmbHs, which may face an effective tax burden of around 30%.
Payments infrastructure
There is still considerable confusion around instant conversion and the Travel Rule.
Per-payment instant conversion is structurally incompatible with the Travel Rule when the customer payment leg is not wallet-to-wallet. The customer leg needs to remain a wallet-to-wallet transaction; only your own sweep can touch regulated fiat rails.
In other words, many payment processors’ landing pages promise something the regulatory and technical architecture cannot actually deliver.
The good news:
Lightning capacity is close to its all-time high.
In March, Square switched Lightning on by default for approximately four million merchants.
BTC Map grew by 13% during the quarter and now lists roughly 26,000 European merchants.
The infrastructure is increasingly in place. The bigger question is whether adoption of bitcoin by businesses will accelerate going forward.
Access full report here:
https://bringin.app/business-report
Note: This report uses data collected until June 2026.