European Authorities Have Previously Agreed On Common Rules For Crypto Assets
The EU Council and the European Parliament (EP) have tentatively agreed on the first EU-wide rules on crypto assets, the Council said in a statement.
“An agreement on the European regulation of crypto assets (MiCA) has been reached,” the release notes.
It clarifies that the representatives of the Council and the EP “have reached a preliminary agreement on a proposal for cryptoasset markets, which covers issuers of unsecured cryptoassets and so-called stablecoins, as well as trading platforms and wallets in which cryptoassets are stored”.
Some EU states already have national legislation on crypto assets, but there is no specific regulatory framework in this area at the EU level yet, the release says.
“For the first time, the EU brings crypto assets, crypto asset issuers and crypto asset service providers under the regulatory framework,” it notes.
According to the draft new rules, “cryptoasset service providers will have to comply with strict requirements to protect consumers’ wallets and be liable in case of loss of investors’ cryptoassets,” the release says.
With regard to stablecoins, the MiCA project involves, among other things, the creation by their issuers of a “sufficiently liquid reserve”, partly in the form of deposits, it says.
In addition, all so-called “stablecoins” are expected to be controlled by the European Banking Authority (EBA), with an issuer’s presence in the EU being a precondition for any issuance of such instruments.
