Curbing \u201cforum shopping\u201d in the crypto sector<\/strong><\/p>\nUnder current MiCA rules, crypto firms can obtain a license in a single EU member state and then \u201cpassport\u201d those services across the entire bloc. This setup has led to a fragmented landscape where companies select specific countries based on favorable local oversight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For instance, Kraken operates out of Ireland, while Coinbase and Bitstamp are based in Luxembourg. Bitpanda maintains its primary presence in Austria, though its asset management division is registered in Germany.<\/p>\n
The central bank argues that \u201ctransferring authorisation, monitoring and enforcement powers for all CASPs\u201d from national bodies to ESMA would \u201censure supervisory convergence, reduce fragmentation and mitigate cross-border risks in crypto-asset markets, thereby supporting financial stability and the integrity of the single market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opposition to the change has emerged from countries like Malta, a prominent hub for digital asset firms. Critics there argue the move is premature, noting that specific MiCA requirements for service providers only became fully active in December 2024.<\/p>\n
The ECB, however, pointed to the growing ties between traditional lenders and the crypto industry as a reason for urgency. It warned that banks offering crypto services or partnering with digital asset firms could allow volatility to transmit \u201cshocks into the financial system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
To prevent this, the bank highlighted \u201cthe need for a centralised Union supervisory regime for CASPs, capable of addressing the systemic risks posed by CASPs with significant activities, preventing risk migration into the banking system and safeguarding financial stability.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the plan to succeed, the ECB noted that ESMA must receive enough funding and personnel to manage the increased workload of policing the sector. The proposal now moves to a period of negotiation between EU governments and lawmakers, meaning it will likely be several months before the changes are finalized in law.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Central Bank has thrown its weight behind a proposal to give the EU\u2019s markets watchdog direct control over the continent\u2019s largest crypto firms. Summary The European Central Bank…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25730,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25729"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25731,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25729\/revisions\/25731"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}