Mica | Crypto

The foundation called for regulation based on financial risks rather than technology, warning that overlapping rules could create uncertainty for crypto businesses across the EU. The Cardano Foundation has urged the European Union not to introduce new, standalone regulations for decentralized finance and staking, arguing that existing financial laws should govern such activities based on their functions and risks rather than the technologies they use. In a Wednesday blog post outlining its 19-page Sept. 30 submission to the European Commission, the foundation called for a distinction between direct participation in decentralized networks and financial services provided by intermediaries, particularly those involving custody or control of users’ assets. “Regulation should follow the substance of an activity, the functions performed, and the risks created, not the technology through which it is conducted,” the foundation wrote. Read more

The company says issuance is planned in the coming months, subject to MiCA requirements and white-paper publication. Read the full story on CryptoSlate Understand the crypto stories that matter and what to watch next. Get The Catalyst in your inbox

The second-largest stablecoin by market cap will be overseen by French and EU authorities under its classification as a “significant e-money token.“ The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified Circle’s USDC stablecoin as a significant e-money token under the region’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework.  In a Wednesday notice, the banking regulator said the e-money token classification, granted to only 45 other projects, effectively means the USDC stablecoin will be jointly overseen by the EBA and France’s supervisory authority, the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution. The stablecoin is the second largest by market capitalization, at $73 billion compared to Tether USDt’s $184 billion. The “significant“ classification came as many EU-based token issuers pushed for regulated US dollar-pegged stablecoins in the region. Stable Mint CEO James Bennett told Cointelegraph that while Europe couldn’t “wish away“ dollar stablecoins, regulators could control safeguards and rules for issuers. Re...

The Council’s selective ESMA model would address part of MiCA’s cross-border supervision gap while retaining national oversight elsewhere. The post EU targets MiCA loophole that lets crypto exchanges serve 27 countries with one license appeared first on CryptoSlate.

BaFin rejected operator futurum bank AG's application, and a proposed restart depends on unfinished arrangements with regulated partners. The post MiCA rejection forces German crypto platform into operational overhaul appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Trading on the platform has largely been suspended since June as its operator awaited MiCA authorization, with the company now looking to regulated partners to restart services. Bitcoin Group SE says it is seeking an alternative operating model for its bitcoin.de platform after the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) refused its subsidiary futurum bank AG’s application for authorization as a crypto-asset service provider under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). In an Oct. 6 announcement, the company said the BaFin decision was a setback, but it had prepared for the possibility of a refusal. It said it is now reviewing the decision and has the opportunity to lodge an objection or submit a new application in the future. The group said it is also working on ways to resume trading through regulated partners “as quickly as possible.” Read more

Its longer-term proposal would require Commission equivalence and EBA issuer recognition before distribution through a locally licensed institution. The post Circle and Tether find common ground against MiCA’s bank reserve rules appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Speaking on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction, Christian Trummer said MiCA has increased trust in regulated platforms and called for stricter enforcement against noncompliant firms. European crypto users are placing more trust in regulated platforms following the implementation of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA), according to Christian Trummer, co-CEO of Austria-based crypto exchange Bitpanda. Speaking on Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction, Trummer said most users have “more faith” in regulated market participants and trust those platforms following the rollout of MiCA.   He contrasted that with what he described as a “Crypto Twitter” bubble focused on self-custody, saying most users prefer regulated providers rather than managing their own private keys.   Read more

Circle wants the EU to replace mandatory bank-deposit minimums with more flexible liquidity rules and preserve cross-border stablecoin issuance. Stablecoin issuer Circle urged the European Commission to revise reserve requirements in its response to a consultation on reviewing the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). In Thursday’s summary of its response, the USDC and EURC issuer said mandatory bank-deposit requirements expose stablecoin issuers to banking-sector credit and counterparty risks. Circle faced those risks firsthand in March 2023, when USDC temporarily lost its dollar peg after the company disclosed that $3.3 billion of its reserves were held at Silicon Valley Bank. The funds were subsequently made available after US authorities protected the bank’s depositors. Read more

A 50,000-letter campaign is pressing Brussels to rethink stablecoin rewards as EU central banks seek broader changes to MiCA’s stablecoin rules. More than 50,000 Europeans have urged the European Commission to loosen restrictions on stablecoin rewards as part of its review of the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, according to crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto EU. The campaign came as the Commission closed its MiCA review consultation on Wednesday, with Stand With Crypto EU pushing for regulated stablecoin providers to be allowed to offer incentives including cashback, loyalty benefits and fee reductions. The group said more than 50,000 supporters wrote to the Commission during the consultation, while more than 126,000 people have separately signed its petition calling for a more permissive EU approach to stablecoins. Read more

As the European Commission’s MiCA review consultation closes, Europe must decide whether its crypto rulebook is protecting the market without making it too costly to build in. When the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) came into force, it did something that had eluded the digital asset sector in Europe for years: it created a single, coherent rulebook. For the first time, a crypto asset service provider (CASP) authorized in one Member State can passport its services across the European Union and European Economic Area, and clients across the bloc can choose among a growing field of licensed, supervised providers. That is a genuine achievement, and one the industry should not take for granted. As the consultation on MiCA’s review closes, the focus should now be on calibration: keeping what works, and being honest about where the compliance burden has grown faster than the risks it is meant to address. Read more

Greece joined the EU MiCA register with four providers as HCMC expanded its denial of remarks attributed to officials in a report on Binance. Greece has entered the European Union’s crypto regulatory register for the first time, with four providers added. Four Greek providers — BCash, Xenios Blockchain Group, Capital Wallet Greece and Piraeus Bank — appeared on the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) register updated Thursday. Six other crypto-asset service providers from Germany, France and Slovenia were added, bringing the register to 359 unique providers. Read more

ESMA will focus on CASP resilience, outsourcing and reverse solicitation while pursuing harmonized reporting across national regulators. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will focus its coordination of national crypto supervision in 2027 on operational resilience, outsourcing and firms maintaining sufficient operations inside the bloc as implementation deepens under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). ESMA Chair Verena Ross said Monday that the regulator’s focus under MiCA had shifted “from rulemaking towards supervision and convergence.” “We want innovation to flourish within a framework that provides clarity for firms, safeguards for investors and confidence in the markets,” Ross said during a meeting of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. Read more

The EBA outlined potential rules for crypto lending and firms providing access to DeFi protocols as part of the European Commission’s MiCA review. The European Banking Authority (EBA) has called for crypto lending to be brought under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework as regulators consider potential changes to MiCA.  In a response to the European Commission’s (EC) targeted consultation on MiCA, the EBA said crypto borrowing and lending should be regulated, including where crypto asset service providers facilitate access to decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols. The regulator recommended that the EC conduct a cost-benefit analysis of legislative changes that could add intermediating crypto borrowing and lending to the list of services regulated under MiCA, potentially adding specific compliance requirements and oversight activity. It also suggested requirements for crypto firms that provide clients access to DeFi lending protocols. Read more

The reported plan swaps mandatory bank deposits for one-day and five-day liquidity tests, shifting where redemption risk lands. The post EU central banks attack MiCA rules and stablecoin runs are blamed appeared first on CryptoSlate.

The ECB and EU central banks want to replace MiCA’s stablecoin bank-deposit requirements with liquidity thresholds, warning that sudden withdrawals could strain lenders. The European Central Bank (ECB) and EU central banks want to replace mandatory bank-deposit thresholds for stablecoin reserves with new liquidity requirements, arguing that large stablecoin deposits could create liquidity risks for banks. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) called for removing rules requiring at least 30% of reserves, or 60% for significant stablecoins, to be held as bank deposits. The proposal came in the ESCB’s response, published Tuesday, to the European Commission’s review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Instead of the existing bank-deposit rules, the ESCB backed minimum liquidity thresholds for reserve assets maturing within one and five working days. It separately pointed to overnight reverse repurchase agreements (repos) and short-term sovereign bonds as alternative instruments issuers could ...

Banks now represent nearly one in four providers on ESMA’s MiCA register after roughly doubling their presence since late June. Banks are rapidly expanding their presence in Europe’s regulated crypto market, with traditional lenders now accounting for nearly one in four providers listed under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA). The number of banks on the EU’s MiCA crypto provider list doubled to about 80 from roughly 40 between June 26 and Sept. 16, according to a Cointelegraph analysis of MiCA register data from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). The overall number of listed crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) rose from 243 to 349 over the period, but non-bank providers lost ground in relative terms, with their share falling from about 84% to 77%. Read more

Although the ECB holds no formal licensing authority under MiCA, high-level intervention led Greece to stall an application that regulators had previously deemed complete, the Journal said.

Germany expands its lead in EU MiCA authorizations with 79 crypto asset service providers, ahead of France and the Netherlands. Germany widened its lead in the number of providers licensed under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), with six of its cooperative banks added in the latest register update. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) updated its MiCA register on Friday, bringing the number of authorized crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to 331. Compared with an update from Aug. 12, the six additions were all German cooperative banks: Raiffeisenbank Aidlingen, Ihre Volksbank, VR-Bank Mittelfranken Mitte, Volksbank Euskirchen, VR Bank Ried-Überwald and Volksbank Backnang. Read more

Brussels is reviewing whether crypto lending should fall under MiCA, but DeFi lending vaults are making it harder to determine who, exactly, should be regulated. MiCA left crypto lending outside its original rulebook — but now Brussels is considering whether to bring it in. On May 20, 2026, the European Commission asked stakeholders to weigh in on areas left outside the original Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. These include issues around decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto lending and borrowing. One area of contention involves lending vaults, which can channel billions of dollars into onchain credit markets without looking like conventional lending. Their legal status currently depends on non binding interpretations that they fall outside of MiCA and EU fund rules. Read more