Is there a single global crypto regulator?

No. Every country decides for itself whether a given crypto product counts as a security, a commodity, or something else, and which of its own agencies oversees it. There is no equivalent of a single worldwide crypto regulator.

Does a regulator appearing on this list mean an exchange it covers is safe?

No. Licensing and registration requirements typically cover things like anti-money-laundering compliance and which products can legally be offered; they don't automatically insure customer funds against an exchange's failure.

Regulators

Crypto regulators, by country

There's no single global crypto regulator: each country decides for itself who oversees what. This is a reference list of the major bodies, not a ranking or an endorsement. For the bigger picture of why this fragmentation exists and what it means for traders, start with Crypto Regulation: Why What You Can Trade Depends on Where You Live.

ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission): Financial-product classification and exchange registration under existing financial-services law.
CSA (Canadian Securities Administrators): Coordinates provincial securities regulation and exchange registration requirements across Canada.
ESMA and national competent authorities (MiCA): CASP licensing that passports across all EU member states, plus stablecoin reserve and disclosure requirements.
BaFin: Germany's national authority enforcing MiCA and pre-existing crypto-custody licensing requirements domestically.
RBI (Reserve Bank of India): Banking-system access for exchanges: the subject of a 2018 restriction later struck down by India's Supreme Court in 2020.
SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India): An evolving, still-developing oversight role, particularly floated for security-like tokens.
FSA (Financial Services Agency): Exchange licensing under one of the earliest formal crypto regimes anywhere, dating to 2017.
SEC Nigeria and CBN: An evolving stance: the central bank eased earlier banking restrictions on crypto businesses in 2023.
MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore): Digital Payment Token licensing under the Payment Services Act, and restrictions on public crypto advertising.
FSC (Financial Services Commission): Exchange registration and a real-name banking requirement linking every trading account to a verified bank account.
FINMA: One of the more established token-classification frameworks, sorting tokens into payment, utility, and asset categories.
FSRA (Abu Dhabi Global Market): Virtual-asset licensing specific to ADGM, a separate free-zone framework from VARA's.
VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority): Licensing for exchanges and virtual-asset service providers operating in Dubai, outside the DIFC free zone.
SCA (Securities and Commodities Authority): Licensing for the rest of the UAE, outside Dubai and Abu Dhabi’s own free-zone regimes.
FCA (Financial Conduct Authority): AML registration and financial-promotions rules, plus its 2020 ban on selling crypto derivatives to retail consumers.
CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission): Commodity-classified crypto derivatives: CME-listed Bitcoin and Ethereum futures, and CFTC-regulated products like Nano futures.
FinCEN: Federal anti-money-laundering rules and money-transmitter registration, layered under state-by-state licensing.
SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission): Whether a given token or offering counts as a security, and enforcement against exchanges over listings it disputes.

This list is a starting point for orientation, not a complete or current statement of any jurisdiction's rules; regulatory status changes, and you should confirm current requirements against the regulator's own published guidance.