ESMA Shifts MiCA Focus from Rulemaking to Supervision

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will focus its coordination of national crypto supervision in 2027 on operational resilience, outsourcing, and firms maintaining sufficient operations within the bloc as implementation deepens under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).

According to ESMA Chair Verena Ross, the regulator's focus under MiCA has shifted 'from rulemaking towards supervision and convergence.' Ross emphasized that the goal is to create a framework that promotes innovation while providing clarity for firms, safeguarding investors, and instilling confidence in the markets.

The priorities outlined by ESMA include strengthening coordination among national regulators supervising crypto asset service providers (CASPs), addressing operational resilience, outsourcing risks, liquidity, reverse solicitation, and asset classification. The regulator also intends to harmonize CASPs' periodic reporting to national regulators and promote common risk indicators and supervisory dashboards.

ESMA plans to advance MIDAS, its centralized crypto-market surveillance system for monitoring potential market abuse under MiCA, with the first phase expected to be fully operational in 2027. The regulator also plans to feed its supervisory experience into the European Commission's MiCA review, scheduled for June 2027.