European Union market regulators are preparing to expand their authority to cover cryptocurrency exchanges and other operators, officials say they will better coordinate surveillance with Bloc’s newly implemented markets in the Crypto-Assets (MICA) framework.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Verena Ross, chairman of the European Securities and Markets Agency (ESMA), confirmed that the Commission is developing a plan to shift from national regulators in several financial sectors to ESMA, including Crypto.
Ross said the reforms will help build a “more integrated and globally competitive” EU financial landscape. The proposal aims to address “continuous fragmentation in the market” and to bring it closer to Europe’s unified capital markets, she said.
Under the current MICA regime, licenses for crypto asset service providers are issued by national authorities rather than central EU agencies.
So far, small member states have led the deployment. Lithuania granted the first license to discount Robinhood Europe earlier this year, but Malta has approved major exchanges including OKX and crypto.com. In Luxembourg, BitStamp and Coinbase also have MICA licenses.
Ross argued that delegating oversight to individual countries creates inefficiency and forces each national authority to build its own expertise and surveillance systems. The ESMA also raises concerns about inconsistent licensing standards, such as a July review that criticized elements of Malta’s authorization process.
Founded in 2011 in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, ESMA was created as part of the European system of financial supervision to harmonize financial regulations across the bloc.
MICA, which came into effect in June 2024, is a groundbreaking EU cryptography designed to create a unified framework for digital asset issuers and service providers in all 27 member countries.
Related: Maltese regulators say okx crypto exchange $1.1.1.12 million for past AML violations
Mica puts pressure on her “passport” that crosses the border
Efforts by ESMA to streamline and integrate crypto regulations are clashing with growing tensions in EU member states over so-called “passport” rules.
Jerome Castille, Head of Compliance at Coinshares, said in a recent Cointelegraph podcast that the biggest challenge facing MICA is ensuring consistent implementation across all member countries.
Marina Marchezic, executive director of the European Crypto Initiative, a policy group advocating for industrial regulation, said the issue stems from “27 different national authorities that oversee the same regulations.” She argued that this fragmented approach risks eroding the central purpose of harmonization.
The passport system has sparked controversy among some of the block’s biggest markets. For example, France is reportedly considering restrictions on crypto companies that are licensed elsewhere in the EU but want to operate within border areas. Critics say it could violate single market principles.
“From what we saw, it’s technically possible to block a passport under MICA, but that comes with a lot of legal complexity,” says Markezic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziirhv3cbog
magazine: How cryptography is changing worldwide in 2025