After an initial postponement in February, the vote on the MiCa regulation (cryptocurrency market) to regulate cryptocurrencies in Europe should finally take place in April.
When it comes to cryptocurrencies, Europe seems to be taking its time. Last year, the European Parliament and the European Council reached an agreement on a final version of the so-called MiCa regulation (for “Market in Cryptocurrencies”) which aims to regulate the ecosystem in Europe. However, this final version must be voted on by all MEPs in order to be approved.
“Technical” delay.
However, this famous vote has not yet taken place. Announced for the end of 2022, the vote, which had been postponed to February, has been postponed again. It should take place towards the end of April, coinciding with the vote on the so-called TFR regulation (for “Funds Transfer Regulation”). The reason? Translation problems, of course.
“The delay is ‘technical’ and most likely caused by problems translating the nearly 400-page file into the 24 official languages of the European Union (EU),” a European Parliament spokesman told Reuters. The block.
If Europe hints at translation problems, one can wonder about the gap between the legislative process and the current concerns of the cryptocurrency market, weakened by the fall of the giant FTX. “With the postponement of the final vote, European financial regulators have to wait longer before they can start drafting implementing rules,” he underlines The blockrecalling that a regulatory body such as the European Securities and Markets Authority has 12 to 18 months to draft technical standards once a text has been approved.
France advances alone
In this context, will Europe be able to meet the 2024 entry into force deadlines of the MiCA? Questions may arise. While Europe struggles to make progress on this vote, France has decided to take the lead. Thus, in his wishes for the year 2023, the governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, asked to make PSAN accreditation (for digital asset service providers) mandatory.
To date, a French or foreign crypto company wishing to provide its services in France can choose between two options: a mandatory PSAN registration (for the digital asset service provider) or an optional authorization, issued by the MFA in the scope of the Pacte law of 2019.
Mandatory in four areas, especially for players offering custody services or for buying/selling cryptocurrencies, registration has so far been granted to 62 players in France, including Coinhouse, Binance and others. recently Crypto.com. No player has instead received the approval, which remains more difficult to obtain with more stringent criteria for obtaining it (financial situation, capital requirements, etc.).
François Villeroy de Galhau hopes that this framework will apply “well before” the entry into force of the European MiCA regulation “to establish a necessary framework of confidence”. Along the same lines, next Tuesday, French MEPs will have to vote a cryptocurrency law in France that would make PSAN mandatory.
As a reminder, MiCa it has many chapters which may concern individuals, investors and crypto-companies. The regulation, which has been under negotiation for several months in Brussels, intends in particular to protect investors “from certain risks associated with investments in crypto-assets and will allow them to avoid fraudulent schemes”.