EU Debates MiCA Crypto Law Before Vote; Here’s Implementation Timeline

Crypto Regulation News: The European Parliament is set to vote on adopting the regulation on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) on Thursday. The landmark new legislation comes across as the most sophisticated set of crypto market specific rules at a time when the United States authorities failed to establish a concrete belief with a roadmap on crypto regulation. The European Union regulation is aimed at placing harmonized rules for crypto assets at the EU level. This regulatory framework thereby provides legal certainty for crypto assets not covered by existing EU legislation.

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The Markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) legislation, which is touted as the most comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto, is up for a formal adoption vote during the ongoing EU Parliament plenary session scheduled until Thursday. The text for MiCA law, which covers three types of crypto assets, has been approved late in 2022. A vote on the legislation was earlier scheduled for January 2023 but got delayed due to technical issues. The ongoing EU plenary session will also feature voting on the Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR) regulation.

EU Vote On MiCA Regulation

Whereas the environment is clouded by volatile year in the cryptocurrency markets when it comes to US regulator action, the EU efforts to put in place clear regulatory framework is encouraging. The MiCA regulation “promotes innovation and use of crypto assets,” a description of the law reads, in sharp contrast to the views of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler during Tuesday’s House Financial Services Committee hearing on the SEC oversight.

Meanwhile, it is not clear yet as to when would the MiCA law come into effect for crypto businesses. Industry insiders estimate around 18 months of time for effective regulation to kick in for Crypto Asset Services Providers (CASP).

Entry into force in 1-2 months, entry into application in 12 months after that for stablecoin issuers, 18 months for CASPs.

— Patrick Hansen (@paddi_hansen) April 15, 2023

However, whether the regulation would bring about a change in the global crypto regulatory space remains to be seen.

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