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EU Faces New Calls from France for Unified Crypto Regulation

By  |  October 12, 2025

France is urging the European Union’s top markets regulator to take a stronger role in supervising major cryptocurrency firms as digital asset activity expands across the bloc, according to Bloomberg.

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    Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau called on Thursday for the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to directly oversee significant crypto companies operating within the EU. He argued that centralizing supervision would ensure consistent application of rules and reduce regulatory fragmentation, per Bloomberg.

    Villeroy also advocated tightening the EU’s existing framework for digital assets, known as MiCA, which allows crypto firms licensed in one member state to operate across all 27 countries under a “passporting” system. His comments come amid growing tensions over stablecoin regulation, with the European Central Bank reportedly supporting restrictions on stablecoins issued both within the EU and abroad — a stance that could affect major issuers such as Circle Internet Group Inc. and Paxos Inc.

    “This framework would benefit from the much stricter regulation of the multi-issuance of the same stablecoin within and outside the European Union, to reduce arbitrage risks in times of stress,” Villeroy said.

    Related: White House Pulls Nominee to Lead CFTC After Crypto Investors Voiced Concerns

    According to Bloomberg, Circle has become Europe’s largest stablecoin issuer, leveraging the EU’s MiCA rules to support its $76 billion USDC token. The company, which obtained an electronic money license in France last year, uses a multi-issuance model requiring issuers to maintain reserves within at least one EU state while continuing to manage similar tokens elsewhere.

    Industry groups have warned that uncertainty over the EU’s stance on this model could disrupt operations. In an Oct. 6 letter to European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque, trade associations including Blockchain for Europe, the Electronic Money Association, and the Digital Euro Association cautioned that revisiting the multi-issuance framework could undermine Europe’s competitiveness.

    “Reopening this settled concept — the only pathway for global stablecoins that represent 99% of the market — risks Europe falling behind,” the groups said in the letter seen by Bloomberg.

    Source: Bloomberg