KuCoin taps Tomorrowland festivals as MiCA-era on-ramp for European fans

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KuCoin announced an exclusive multiyear woody with Tomorrowland Winter and Tomorrowland Belgium from 2026 to 2028, making the speech the euphony festival’s exclusive crypto and payments partner.

The determination comes conscionable weeks aft KuCoin secured a Markets successful Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) work supplier licence successful the European Union.

KuCoin’s MiCA play goes mass‑market

KuCoin EU Exchange precocious obtained a crypto plus work supplier license successful Austria nether the EU’s MiCA regime, giving it a afloat regulated foothold successful the bloc arsenic Brussels’ caller rulebook for exchanges, custody and stablecoins comes into force.

The Tomorrowland woody signals however KuCoin plans to usage that status, not conscionable to tally a compliant trading venue, but to plug crypto rails straight into mainstream culture.

KuCoin said the Tomorrowland woody volition screen Tomorrowland Winter 2026 successful Alpe d’Huez, France, and Tomorrowland Belgium 2026 successful Boom, Belgium, with the aforesaid statement continuing done 2028.

From sponsorship to outgo rails

KuCoin insists this is not conscionable a logo play. A spokesperson astatine KuCoin told Cointelegraph that arsenic an exclusive payments partner, the speech is moving with Tomorrowland to weave crypto into the festival’s existing payments stack truthful that “financial tools” beryllium down the scenes of ticketing, merch and nutrient and drink.

The stated extremity is to support the rails “intuitive and invisible,” alternatively than forcing festivalgoers done clunky wallets oregon unfamiliar flows, with KuCoin positioning itself arsenic facilitating the unafraid and businesslike question of worth portion fans absorption connected the music.

The institution declined to spell retired precisely which assets and rails volition beryllium supported on‑site, oregon whether each acquisition volition tally natively onchain, but said that KuCoin’s “Trust First. Trade Next.” mantra runs done its messaging.

The spokesperson stressed precocious security, multi‑layer extortion and adherence to EU standards arsenic the instauration for taking crypto beyond the trading surface and into unrecorded events.

Learning from FTX’s Tomorrowland flop

Tomorrowland’s organizers person been present before. In 2022, the festival announced a Web3 concern with FTX Europe that promised NFTs and “the aboriginal of euphony festivals” earlier collapsing on with the speech itself months later.

That acquisition makes the prime of a MiCA‑licensed partner, and the accent connected idiosyncratic protection, much than cosmetic; it is simply a 2nd effort astatine bridging civilization and crypto (this clip with regulatory scaffolding and clearer guardrails).

Rather than mounting nationalist hard targets for idiosyncratic numbers oregon outgo volumes by 2028, KuCoin is pitching occurrence arsenic “seamless integration” of crypto into the festival experience:

“We purpose to show that integer assets tin beryllium a halfway constituent of planetary integer finance, moving from a niche exertion to a mainstream utility. “

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