EU Gets First Crypto Rulebook

Switzerland was early to adopt a regulatory framework for digital assets. Now Europe has approved an EU-wide crypto rulebook.

The European Parliament is adopting the Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) regulation, scheduled to come into force from mid 2024 onwards, it said in a statement Thursday.

The regulation aims to increase customer protection for crypto-assets that are not regulated by existing financial services legislation. It will affect crypto asset issuers, crypto asset service providers including exchanges, custody providers, investment advisors, and stablecoin issuers.

While MiCA introduces harmonized regulation within the EU, «the Swiss Distributed Ledgter Technology Act goes further and provides additional legal clarity regarding the civil and insolvency law treatment of digital assets which are not present in the MiCA regulation,» Jan Brzezek, CEO and founder of Crypto Finance, an entity belonging to Deutsche Boerse Group, said.

MiCA’s cap limiting stablecoin transactions to €200 million transactions per day, could impact institutional adoption, Brzezek added.

EU regulation might draw companies away from the US, where companies, including Coinbase, have criticized the lack of clarity given by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

By contrast, in Switzerland blockchain companies have benefited from the country’s early regulation of the industry as it helped professionalize the market.

MiCA is an important step toward «legitimizing the asset class and opening the door for more institutional adoption and innovation,» Zug-based 21Shares wrote in an emailed newsletter ahead of Thursday’s parliament vote.