EU🇪🇺: European System of Central Banks proposes changes to MiCA

EU🇪🇺: European System of Central Banks proposes changes to MiCA

The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) has proposed reviewing the MiCA regulatory framework, including requirements for stablecoin issuers and crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). The proposal also seeks to bring activities such as staking, crypto lending and borrowing within the regulated framework.

List of the main amendments:

1️⃣ Transfer CASP supervision to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), rather than leaving it solely with national regulators.

2️⃣ Review CASP capital requirements to account for financial and non-financial risks, instead of basing them primarily on operating expenses.

3️⃣ Expand the criteria for significant CASPs and introduce a requirement to establish an intermediate headquarters within the EU.

4️⃣ Amend stablecoin reserve requirements, replacing fixed minimum deposit ratios with liquidity requirements based on the maturity of reserve assets.

5️⃣ Introduce 1-day and 5-day reserve liquidity requirements. For significant stablecoins, 40% of reserve assets would need to mature within 1 business day, while 60% would mature within 5 business days. For other tokens, the corresponding figures would be 20% and 30%, respectively.

6️⃣ Maintain and strengthen the ban on stablecoin yield, extending it to both direct and indirect forms of remuneration.

7️⃣ Establish EU-wide rules for staking, crypto lending and borrowing, distinguishing between intermediation models and investment services.

8️⃣ Clarify the regulatory treatment of DeFi, bringing certain lending and staking services provided through such arrangements within the regulatory framework.

9️⃣ Address stablecoins with multiple issuers across different jurisdictions, including whether structures involving EU and third-country issuers should be permitted and establishing a mechanism to assess foreign regulatory frameworks.

1️⃣0️⃣ Strengthen crisis-management rules for stablecoin issuers, aligning MiCA requirements with the Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD).

😳 Context: At the end of the transitional period in July 2026, the preliminary MiCA register included 244 CASPs and 40 issuers of electronic money tokens (EMTs). By September 2026, the number had risen to 349, with banks accounting for 23%.

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