EU market regulators are preparing to expand their authority to include cryptocurrency exchanges and other operators under their supervision, officials said, stating that this move will better align regulation with the group's newly implemented Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
Verena Ross, Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), confirmed in an interview with the Financial Times that the European Commission is developing plans to transfer regulatory powers for multiple financial sectors, including cryptocurrencies, from national regulators to ESMA.
Ross stated that this reform will help build a "more integrated and globally competitive" EU financial landscape. The proposal aims to address the issue of "persistent market fragmentation" and move towards a unified European capital market, she said.
Under the current MiCA regime, licenses for crypto asset service providers are issued by national authorities rather than a central EU body.
So far, smaller member states have been leading in the rollout. Lithuania issued the first license to discount broker Robinhood Europe earlier this year, while Malta has authorized major exchanges including OKX and Crypto.com. In Luxembourg, Bitstamp and Coinbase have also obtained MiCA licenses.
Ross believes that delegating regulatory authority to individual countries has led to inefficiencies, forcing each national authority to establish its own expertise and regulatory systems. ESMA has also expressed concerns about inconsistent licensing standards, including a review in July that criticized certain aspects of Malta's licensing process.
ESMA was established in 2011 as part of the European financial regulatory framework following the 2008 global financial crisis, aimed at coordinating financial regulation across the group.
MiCA will come into effect in June 2024 and is a landmark EU crypto law designed to create a unified framework for digital asset issuers and service providers across all 27 member states.
ESMA's efforts to streamline and unify crypto regulation are clashing with increasing tensions among EU member states over the so-called "passport" rules—a key feature of the MiCA framework that allows companies licensed in one country to operate throughout the group without separate approval.
In a recent Cointelegraph podcast, CoinShares Compliance Officer Jerome Castille stated that the biggest challenge facing MiCA is ensuring consistent implementation across all member states.
Marina Markezic, Executive Director of the European Crypto Initiative (a policy organization advocating for supportive industry regulation), noted that the issue stems from "27 different national authorities regulating the same legislation." She believes this fragmented approach could undermine the core goal of MiCA's coordination.
The passport system has sparked controversy in some of the group's largest markets. For instance, reports indicate that France is considering imposing restrictions on crypto companies licensed elsewhere in the EU that wish to operate within its borders—critics argue that this move could violate the single market principle.
"From what we see, technically blocking the passport under the MiCA framework is possible, although it brings significant legal complexities," Markezic said.
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Original article: “EU Plans to Transfer Crypto Oversight to ESMA to End Fragmented Supervision”
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