By Ryan Borg - Deputy Counsel, EU & International Affairs, MFSA
The European Commission has launched a targeted consultation on the review of Regulation on the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). This consultation will help the European Commission to assess whether the MICA remains fit for purpose in light of the initial implementation as the market that keeps moving fast and continues to evolve.
The consultation issued on May 19, seeks to collect data and views on the MiCA application and the latest developments in markets crypto-assets. This process forms part of the Commission’s work under Articles 140 and 142 of MiCA, which mandates the Commission to assess its application and to put forward a report. which may also be accompanied by a legislative proposal aimed at amending or supplementing the current framework.
The consultation covers several key elements of the existing framework, including the conditions for offering crypto-assets or seeking their admission to trading, the requirements for asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens and their issuers, as well as the suitability of the current framework for crypto-asset service providers.
It also looks at issues that are beyond MiCA’s current scope and addresses areas not yet directly regulated. For instance, on DeFi, it asks whether CASPs should conduct due diligence over protocols they connect clients with and whether certification schemes for smart contracts are warranted. It examines whether staking, lending and borrowing require dedicated regulation, whether NFT service providers should be regulated, and whether prediction markets and perpetual futures belong under MiFID or MiCA.
A significant section focuses on the legal treatment of tokens including ownership, custody, collateral, insolvency and enforceability and whether EU-level harmonisation is needed to support tokenisation markets.
Why the EU MiCA consultation matters? Digital asset markets have continued to evolve since MiCA was originally developed. New business models, technological innovations, and regulatory initiatives have emerged across multiple jurisdictions. The existing rules should not be viewed as a completed legislative project, especially in light of an increasingly competitive global landscape and international regulatory developments, and the evolving technological and economic conditions.
The crypto landscape has evolved rapidly since MiCA was drafted. Traditional financial institutions are moving into the crypto and tokenised assets space, DeFi has grown significantly, new asset types have emerged. As a matter of fact, the consultation signals that the EU Commission is moving beyond viewing MiCA purely as a crypto framework but increasingly considering how digital assets and on-chain infrastructure intersect with mainstream capital markets. The depth of this consultation shows that the major pillars, namely the scope, stablecoins, CASPs, and the boundary between regulated and unregulated activity is open for discussion.
In addition, the consultation also forms part of the Commission’s broader simplification agenda to support the EU’s competitiveness, expressly inviting feedback on whether administrative or regulatory burdens can be simplified, reduced or dispensed with.
The consultation remains open until 31 August 2026 via the Commission's online questionnaire and stakeholders are encouraged to participate.
