Creating Clarity? Examining the European MiCA Model

- MiCA needs changing less than 5 years on from its creation

- Panelists called for a rulebook that embraces crypto rather than ringfences it

- The question is whether Europe is up to building the Wall Street of crypto

The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, which legislates a wide range of crypto assets previously outside of the scope of EU financial services legislation, is an important development that brings a level of clarity to an industry that is moving at breakneck speed, panelists said.

Moderated by Sheila Warren, CEO of Project Liberty Institute, panelists evaluated the impact of the framework and the scale and effects of the legislation.

“This is the best blueprint we have for global regulation,” said Dr. Joachim Schwerin, principal economist within the European Commission’s Directorate-General of Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, noting that any changes to the rules will be the result of the fast-paced environment that is digital assets. “We should remember that the substance of MiCA had already been finalized in the middle of 2020. That was only four years ago, but this space has evolved,” Dr Schwerin pointed out, while calling for more global harmonization.

For Franz Bergmueller, CEO of Amina, the impact wasn’t about the rules so much but whether the framework will be conducive to the EU building a leading industry around digital assets.
“We’ll see how regulation will evolve over time. The real question from my point of view is whether Europe is up to building the Wall Street of crypto?” he said.
Bergmueller noted that from the point of view of a crypto bank, clarity and security are key factors, especially for institutional adoption and for smart money coming in.

Przemysław Kral, CEO of zondacrypto, meanwhile, stressed that the industry needs regulation that embraces digital assets in the context of global financial markets, rather than a framework that separates the digital assets industry from both main and Wall Street. An encouraging takeaway is that the European Union and the European commission are open to discussion even though regulators are completely closed, he added.

“We need to have regulation that merges finance, fintechs with MiCA and the crypto firms,” he said.