EU Shifts Focus to Oversight of Crypto Companies Under MiCA
The European Union's focus has shifted from rule-making to overseeing compliance and harmonizing practices among national regulators for crypto companies under the MiCA regulation.
Verena Ross, head of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), stated that their focus within MiCA has shifted towards the convergence of supervisory practices.
As part of its 2027 work program, ESMA will prioritize the coordination of national regulators in overseeing crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), focusing on operational resilience, outsourcing, liquidity, classification of crypto assets, and uniform application of rules across EU countries.
The regulator also intends to focus on the reverse solicitation mechanism, which allows a company from a third country to serve a European client without a MiCA license if the client requests the service on their own initiative. However, ESMA has emphasized that this exemption does not apply if a foreign company solicits clients in the EU through advertising, promotion, or other means.
Additionally, ESMA will continue to oversee compliance with market integrity requirements and develop centralized data and technological tools for risk analysis through its integrated MiCA monitoring system.