ECB Calls for Stronger Crypto-Agency Oversight, Stablecoin Reforms

The European Central Bank (ECB) has called for targeted changes to the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR) as part of its review. The bank supports stronger supervision of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), including transferring authorisation, monitoring, and enforcement powers to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

The ECB also suggests replacing minimum deposit requirements with liquidity requirements based on the maturity of reserve assets for electronic money tokens and asset-referenced tokens. This change aims to limit contagion risks between the stablecoin sector, banks, and financial markets.

The central bank emphasizes the need for clearer rules on third-country multi-issuer stablecoin schemes and stronger crisis-management provisions. It also supports greater EU-level legal clarity and harmonisation for tokenised assets, but argues that extending MiCAR to all tokenised assets would not be appropriate.