EU reaches agreement on landmark MiCA regulation for crypto

finextra.com:

Under the agreement, regulatory framework will protect investors and consumers, while ensuring financial stability and enabling innovation and growth. The regulations will help protect consumers from fraud and scams, as crypto-asset service providers will be liable if they lose assets and fail to protect investors’ wallets. The European Banking Authority (EBA) will form a public register of non-compliant crypto-asset providers.

Bruno Le Maire, French Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty stated: “Recent developments on this quickly evolving sector have confirmed the urgent need for an EU-wide regulation. MiCA will better protect Europeans who have invested in these assets, and prevent the misuse of crypto-assets, while being innovation-friendly to maintain the EU’s attractiveness. This landmark regulation will put an end to the crypto wild west and confirms the EU’s role as a standard-setter for digital topics.”

Sophia Le Vesconte, Senior Associate from global law firm Linklaters fintech team, states: “Reaching political agreement on MiCA is a major milestone for the EU. We are now nearing the finish line on all three of the legislative proposals made by the European Commission alongside its Digital Finance Strategy back in 2020 (MiCA, DORA and the DLT pilot regime). While some have criticised elements of MiCA as being heavy-handed or insufficiently tailored for novel structures, there is no doubt that the EU is now at the forefront of crypto regulation on the global stage, and that it is setting a standard.”

CEO of fintech firm Modulus, Richard Gardner, comments: “MiCA is said to be the first comprehensive regulatory scheme, and it was built to guard against abuse and manipulation. Not