BlocksInform
Crypto customers in the European Union are at the mercy of national regulators while the European Parliament postpones for the second time the bill on its crypto asset markets.
A person close to the case said, The publication of the project has been extended to 17 April, 2023, because of delays in the translation of the 400-page document into the 24 languages of the block. In accordance with European law, all citizens have the right to communication and documentation in one of the official languages of the bloc.
MiCA is not expected to come into force until 2024.
This new delay marks the second postponement since Nov. 2022 announcement to release the 400-page draft in February. 2023 completed in October. 2022.
In accordance with the required legislative procedure, the European Parliament will debate the MiCA in plenary in mid-April 2023. After the meeting, legislators will take between 12 and 18 months to write the technical specifications for the bill. So it can't come into force until 2024.
Designed to standardize regulation across the European bloc, the new bill requires issuers of crypto assets to comply with AML and market manipulation rules.
“The absence of a comprehensive EU framework on cryptoassets could... result in regulatory fragmentation, This would lead to distortions of competition in the single market, Making it Harder for Crypto-Asset Service Providers to Scale Up Beyond Borders and Result in Regulatory Arbitration," the bill.
The bill also provides for consumer protection for crypto assets, including stable assets, outside of existing European Union financial services legislation. In addition, stablecoin issuers must hold 100% reserves and implement a complaints procedure. Miners must report their energy consumption to mitigate climate concerns.
Once the bill is passed, national regulatory bodies will be required to implement it at the national level. European legislators first introduced mica in 2020.
Investment in EU cryptography at the mercy of national regulators.
The delay in the publication of the bill in the 24 bloc languages cannot substantially change the risk landscape for crypto European investors investing in offshore exchanges.
Following the spin-offs of the FTX, several industry experts and legislators, including the head of the European Banking Authority, Jose Manuel Campa, admitted that the bill had "blind spots."
Specifically, the pointed out that the bill does not prevent EU citizens from transaction with overseas crypto companies. MiCA only requires a firm’s compliance with one national authority to offer services to the entire bloc. The Cypriot regulators have suspended the licence had of the business unit had of the Bahamas Stock Exchange in Cyprus. This suspension came shortly after the exchange filed for bankruptcy in Nov. 2022.
(8/8) CASPs must have physical presence in an EU country + get authorization in that country.
Unless you provide services on a customer's "proprietary" initiative = Marketing is not permitted!
CASPs licensed in 1 EU country can serve the entire EU bloc of 450 million people!
— Pat_Kras (@Solofunk30) January 17, 2023
French central bank governor has asked the French government to enforce strict compliance while the bloc awaits MiCA.
“France might have to change as soon as the mandatory authorization of ISPs (digital asset service providers) rather than simply requiring them to register," said Francois Villeroy in his New Year's speech on January 5, 2023.
The watchdog on the French markets, the French Prudential Supervisory and Resolution Authority (ACPR), authorised to operate as a Digital Asset Provider in May 2022.
