ECSDA response to the Commission targeted consultation on the review of Regulation on the Markets in CryptoAssets (MiCA)
- Tokenisation and classification. Tokenised financial instruments should remain subject to the established EU financial-services framework. The use of DLT should not, in itself, change the regulatory treatment of an instrument having the same legal and economic function. Further practical guidance on hybrid, programmable and innovative assets can help provide greater consistency and legal certainty.
- Digital money for tokenised markets. EMTs, tokenised deposits and central bank money can have complementary roles in the emerging digital financial ecosystem. ECSDA supports a technology-neutral framework that allows these forms of digital money to coexist and develop according to their respective characteristics. In particular, the significance of EMTs should also take account of high-value wholesale transactions, concentration and their role in financial-market infrastructure and settlement, rather than relying predominantly on retail-oriented metrics.
- A clear functional crypto-asset services perimeter. MiCA should recognise that certain crypto-asset service functions may be functionally linked to, ancillary to or technically necessary for CSDR-regulated services. Mica should provide sufficient clarity to cover activities performed in the context of a CSD’s regulated post-trade services including relevant bring-your-own-wallet (BYOW) models. This would avoid unnecessary duplication between MiCA and CSDR and facilitate the development of DLT-based post-trade infrastructures, while preserving the existing prudential and supervisory safeguards applicable to CSDs.
- Proportionate rules for emerging services. ECSDA supports a regulatory approach that enables TradFi and DeFi to connect effectively and safely, leveraging regulated financial institutions as trusted access points, and welcomes the reflection on the most appropriate regulatory framework for emerging business models. We support a risk-based approach to crypto-asset lending and borrowing, ensuring that comparable risks are treated consistently across different business models and that regulation reflects their legal and economic substance. Any future framework should also take full account of the existing regulatory requirements applicable to entities already authorised and supervised under sectoral legislation, avoiding unnecessary regulatory duplication while ensuring effective risk management and appropriate protection for users.
- Legal certainty for tokenised assets. Clear and predictable rules on ownership, transfers, enforceability, custody, insolvency and collateral rights are essential for tokenised markets to develop across borders. ECSDA supports a targeted 28th regime recognising the legal effects of DLT registers, together with an EU conflict-of-law framework for tokens, while avoiding unnecessary harmonisation of national private law.
ECSDA has submitted its response to the European Commission’s targeted consultation on the review of MiCA.
The review is an important opportunity to build on the experience gained since MiCA was adopted and further develop a European framework that provides legal certainty, supports innovation and enables the responsible growth of digital-asset and tokenised markets, while maintaining a coherent and competitive regulatory environment.
In its response, ECSDA focuses on a number of areas that will be important for the next phase of Europe’s digital-finance framework:
A technology-neutral, proportionate and coherent framework can provide the foundations for the next stage of Europe’s digital financial markets — supporting innovation while preserving legal certainty, interoperability and market integrity