ESMA Shifts Focus from Crypto Rulemaking to Enforcement
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is shifting its focus from designing crypto rules to enforcing them in a more consistent way. The regulator's work under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) will increasingly center on supervision, aiming to align how national regulators oversee crypto asset service providers (CASPs).
According to ESMA Chair Verena Ross, the goal is to let innovation proceed within a framework that supports investor protection and market confidence. The regulator's attention has shifted 'from rulemaking towards supervision and convergence,' she said.
Under its 2027 priorities under MiCA, ESMA will emphasize cross-country supervisory convergence for CASPs as rules move into enforcement. Operational resilience, outsourcing risk, and liquidity are among the main themes ESMA will address alongside supervision of reverse solicitation and asset classification.
The regulator plans to harmonize how CASPs report periodically to national regulators and develop common risk indicators and supervisory dashboards. It also aims to push forward MIDAS, its centralized system intended to help monitor potential market abuse, with the first phase targeted for full operation in 2027.