Regulation
As MiCA Launches, Is Crypto Entering Its Regulatory Era?
Crypto and Web3 companies are demanding more Regulatory clarity for years.
And now, with the news Sunday (June 30) that the historical monument of the European Union Crypto-asset markets law (MiCA) New regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuers have come into effect, with observers wondering whether the digital asset industry’s “Wild West” days are fading into the rearview mirror.
After all, the digital asset and cryptocurrency sector shows no signs of decline as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century. Stricter disclosure requirements, regular audits of cryptocurrency businesses, and stricter capital reserve requirements will help build trust and transparency in the market. Moreover, the EU’s implementation of the MiCA provision for stablecoins puts the EU at the forefront of cryptocurrency regulation.
Already, stablecoin issuer Circle announced on Monday (July 1) that it had obtained a Electronic Money Institution (EMI) License, become the first global stablecoin issuer to obtain the necessary license to issue dollar and euro-pegged stablecoin tokens within the EU borders under MiCA.
“Achieving MiCA compliance through our French EMI license is a significant step forward, not only for Circle, but for the entire digital financial ecosystem in Europe and beyond,” said Circle’s Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy. Dante Disparte said in a statement“As digital assets become increasingly integrated into the traditional financial landscape, it is critical that we establish strong and transparent frameworks to promote trust and adoption… building a more inclusive and compliant future for internet finance.”
Among the top 10 stablecoins by market cap, only USDC is currently MiCA compliant.
Learn more: What the EU’s implementation of the MiCA agreement in July means for global regulation
No more shortcuts or rule bending for cryptocurrency businesses
“Circle’s announcement today is a major milestone in the continued development of the internet financial system, with one of the world’s largest economies establishing clear regulations that make stablecoins legal tender, and ushering in a phase in the development of the cryptocurrency market as a core infrastructure for payments, finance and commerce,” said Circle Co-Founder and CEO. Jeremy Allaire said in a Monday Post on X (formerly Twitter), noting that MiCA marks “the beginning of the growth and mainstream adoption phase” of digital assets.
The idea of seeing major global laws being passed enshrining stablecoins in the financial system of the world’s third-largest economy is something that would have been inconceivable just a decade ago.
This also means that there will be no more shortcuts or regulatory shortcuts for crypto and Web3 companies – at least not in Europe.
As Amias Geretypartner at QED Investorstold PYMNTS last June, “The crypto community believed and had a real conviction that what they were doing was so new that existing laws could possibly not applicable. And in the history of financial services, there has almost never been a group of people who have had commercial success who have had that conviction… once you have that conviction, you start looking for excuses not to comply.
But since the implementation of MiCA on Sunday, the days when the crypto industry chose to rely on regulatory havens while seeking open access to global markets are over.
“In the future, I hope that ESMA [the European Securities and Markets Authority] “works collaboratively with industry to help businesses comply rather than regulating through enforcement actions such as fines or penalties,” Eleanor Gaywood, chief strategy officer at Coincover, told PYMNTS.
Learn more: What CFOs Should Know About the Growing Use of Stablecoins
The EU is not the only major global economy to recently launch a crypto-focused framework.
On Friday (June 28), the U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released new regulations around tax reporting requirements for the sale and exchange of digital assets. The regulations are intended to help taxpayers file accurate returns and pay taxes already owed under current law.
Decentralized platforms that do not hold assets themselves will be exempt from IRS regulation, while other crypto custodial platforms will have to report transactions to the IRS starting in 2026.
“These final regulations will implement the bipartisan direction from Congress to ensure that digital asset owners receive the information they need from brokers to file their taxes more accurately, easily, and less expensively, and that the IRS has the information it needs to address the tax evasion risks posed by digital assets,” an IRS spokesperson wrote in a statement provided to PYMNTS.
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