Complaining About a Crypto Exchange: the Deadlines Article 71 MiCAR Sets and Why BaFin Will Not Decide Your Case

A withdrawal has been sitting at “in progress” for days. A fee shows up on the statement that is not in the price list. An account is frozen, and the justification consists of a reference to the terms of use. In all three cases, most customers write a message to support, receive a ticket number and wait. In legal terms, since the MiCA transition period expired on July 1, 2026, this is a different process from what it feels like. Anyone holding an authorisation in the EU as a crypto-asset service provider operates a formal complaints procedure that is bound to verifiable deadlines. A support enquiry is not a complaint. It only becomes one once you label it as such and take the route provided for it. The basis is set out in Article 71 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets. It is fleshed out by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/294, published in the Official Journal of the European Union on February 13, 2025 and, under its Article 9, in force twenty days later. This piece explains what your provider owes you, within what time it has to respond, which details belong in a complete complaint, and where the matter goes if nothing happens. Article 71 MiCAR: the complaints p...