EU Adds MiCA Legislation to Official Journal

The anticipated Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), starting the clock on when the licensing regime will come into effect.

The MiCA legislation — which aims to create a consistent regulatory framework for crypto among the EU member states — was published in the OJEU alongside related legislations on 9 June. The rules state that regulations usualy come into force within 20 days of OJEU publication, but MiCA will start to apply on 30 December, 2024, although some of its provisions will take effect slightly earlier on 30 June, 2024.

The legislation will create a single market environment across EU member states in terms of regulatory requirements, with some of its key components being new registration and authorization requirements for cryptocurrency issuers, exchanges, and wallet providers. Wallet providers will also be required to identify their customers when they transfer funds, as well as introduce new requirements for stablecoin issuers.

Those include the need for stablecoin issuers to meet certain security and risk mitigation requirements, as well as certain governance and financial requirements. Some of the provisions in the legislation will also provide a framework to prevent market abuse, insider trading, and market manipulation in the cryptocurrency markets.

While Europe is moving closer to adopting a consistent crypto regulatory framework, the United States is continuing its war on crypto with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing lawsuits against two of the largest crypto exchanges on the market, Binance and Coinbase. The regulator claimed that several of the tokens traded on the two platforms were securities, and that the two companies had failed to register as licensed securities exchanges, brokers, or clearing agencies.