The MiCA regulation promotes the EU as a pioneer in regulating crypto assets

MADRID, 23 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The MiCA regulation, which this week received the final approval from the European Parliament, places the European Union at the forefront of the rest of the world in regulating crypto assets, according to the majority of experts consulted by Europa Press.

The regulation was endorsed by the plenary session of the European Parliament on Friday with 529 votes in favour, 29 against and 14 abstentions. However, the legal text still needs to be formally approved by the Council.

The regulation creates a legal framework to track crypto asset transfers and prevent money laundering, as well as a set of common rules on supervision and client protection.

"We have been working for years to ensure that we are the most regulated investment platform in Europe, and we are happy to see that the MiCA regulation is one step closer to coming into force. It is truly pioneering legislation worldwide, standardized regulations will bring confidence and security to the sector", said the CEO and founder of Bitpanda, Eric Demuth.

However, the Bitpanda executive has also highlighted that some problems that currently exist will continue to exist with this legal umbrella. "The application continues to focus disproportionately on the European companies that make the most effort to comply with the regulation and that does not make much sense," he criticized.

For his part, the director of Binance for Spain and Portugal, Javier García de la Torre, considers that the new legislative step "has marked a milestone in the development of the cryptocurrency and Web3 industry."

"MiCA will bring regulatory clarity to one of the largest markets in the world, making the EU, and Spain, an even more attractive place for Web3 companies to innovate and attract talent," the Binance expert continued.

In this way, García de la Torre considers that "small details will be key", but in general Binance that it is a "pragmatic solution" to the challenges facing the industry.

The regulation establishes specific requirements in the operations of providers with unhosted wallets so that they are obliged to verify transfers to or from their clients with one of these unregistered wallets.

It will also cover crypto assets that are not regulated by existing financial services legislation and its provisions cover transparency, disclosure, authorization and monitoring of their transactions.

In this way, consumers will be better informed about the risks, costs and charges related to their operations. Additionally, the new legal framework will support market integrity and financial stability by regulating public offerings of crypto assets.

The agreed text includes measures against market manipulation and to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities.

"The fact that the EU has achieved a competitive advantage with the adoption of this law will become evident in the coming years, when other countries around the world use it as a model for their regulation of cryptocurrencies, the head of regulation has added. of Spectrum Markets, Alpay Soytürk.

On his side, Scope senior consultant Sam Theodore has positively assessed the fact that this standard acts as a "passport" and facilitates the expansion of crypto operators throughout Europe. In any case, he has also indicated that this new regulation "is an additional barrier" and "will lay the foundations for greater clarity on the future digital euro".