EU Reconsiders MiCA Regulation as Crypto Evolves

European regulators want to know if their 2024 cryptocurrency regulations still apply to the 2026 crypto landscape.

With that in mind, the European Commission announced Wednesday (May 20) that it has launched a consultation to get feedback from stakeholders and the general public on the functioning of the Markets in Crypto‑Assets Regulation (MiCA).

“As crypto asset markets and the broader policy landscape continue to expand, the commission is assessing whether the current framework remains fit for purpose,” the announcement said.

MiCA created a “harmonized” EU framework for crypto assets and related services, governing things like cryptocurrency asset‑referenced tokens and stablecoins, their issuers, and crypto asset service providers.

“Since the MiCA Regulation was developed, digital asset markets have continued to evolve, with the global policy and regulatory landscape also changing significantly,” the commission added, leading it to assess “whether the EU framework needs to be updated in light of market and international developments.”

As covered here last month, MiCA is on the verge of a moment where it “stops being theory and becomes market structure.”

That’s because of a July 1 deadline which says that all firms offering crypto asset services in the EU without formal authorization must close operations in member states.

The consultation, open until Aug. 31, includes a public consultation for individuals and a targeted consultation asking technical and legal questions of stakeholders that include digital asset issuers and service providers, financial institutions, consumer and public interest organizations, and EU public authorities.

One of the changes in crypto’s regulatory landscape is happening in the U.S., where lawmakers are preparing to take up the CLARITY Act after it was advanced last week by the Senate Banking Committee.

As PYMNTS wrote, that vote was “one of the most consequential regulatory developments for digital assets since the collapse of FTX reignited demands for federal oversight.”

While still facing political and procedural obstacles, the legislation signals a growing bipartisan acknowledgment that what was once seen as a fringe or adversarial sector is now viewed as a strategic financial and technological industry.

“The market response demonstrates how central regulatory clarity has become to crypto valuations,” the report added. “Coinbase shares rallied after the Senate Banking Committee advanced the bill, while broader crypto-linked equities also moved higher as investors price in the possibility that stablecoins and digital assets may soon operate inside a more predictable U.S. regulatory framework.”