EU Council passes bill on crypto regulation

Now the document must be approved by the European Parliament

06.10.2022 - 12:10

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What’s new? The Council of Ministers of the European Union member states finally approved the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill, now it must be approved by the European Parliament. The document is expected to be formally approved on October 10 and enter into force in 2024. MiCA suggests that crypto service providers will have to comply with rules aimed at protecting the interests of users.

The EU Council’s bill

More details about MiCA. All projects related to digital assets are required to warn of potential investment risks. Trading platforms, such as exchanges, must be licensed to operate by the regulator, which will be the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

MiCA requires companies that provide digital asset custody services to verify the identities of their customers as part of anti-money laundering (KYC/AML). The document will also limit trading in non-euro-backed stablecoins to €200 million per day. Among other things, MiCA will equate non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with securities.

In September, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, said that the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation would become a “global regulatory standard copied around the world.”

In June, Christine Lagarde, head of the European Central Bank (ECB), noted that a second regulation similar to the MiCA was needed to strengthen the regulation of bitcoin and decentralized finance (DeFi).

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