MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) Vote Postponed to April 2023

The vote on the MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) regulation has been postponed from February and looks unlikely to take place until April this year.

During the European Economic and Monetary Committee of the European Parliament, the European Union (EU) decided to delay the MiCA’s vote for more than two months. The proposal was originally scheduled for February 2023.

Many MiCA Questions

The reason for the delay, according to the EU, is that the 400-page proposal needs to be translated into 24 languages officially used in the EU. It was not the first time the vote was postponed.

The EU previously changed the vote date from November 2022 to February 2023 for the same reason. The vote is expected to happen in April 2023.

The concept of MiCA was kicked off in 2019 but it was pending until a series of incidents rode into the crypto town, forcing global lawmakers to accelerate moves. After two years of several discussions, the EU finally approved the bill last year.

Some of the bill’s major highlights include obligations for crypto-asset issuers and service providers, creation of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to monitor regional financial activities, and money laundering directives.

FTX is Still Rocking Markets

The news came amid the aftermath of recent collapses in the crypto industry. Since mid-year of 2022, the market has endured a prolonged season of downturn following the abrupt exposures of prominent figures.

The MiCA bill is aimed at properly regulating the crypto sector, protecting users, and boosting innovations. The EU expects the new legal framework can set standards for countries in the area and likewise lay the groundwork for countries worldwide.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao previously showed support for MiCA, however, the CEO added that certain restrictions of the bill could hinder the industry’s growth.

While MiCA presents major achievements of the EU in efforts to bring safety and transparency to the crypto wild west, industry companies and members see the bill as a threat.

The delay of the MiCA vote, therefore, gives crypto members some respite. Many believe that the new regulation will likely place restrictions and violate the decentralization nature of the market as a whole.

2023: Year of Regulation

All countries are paying more attention to digital assets and crypto-related products in terms of money laundering.

The global tendency is to ensure strict management, not to take advantage of money laundering or anti-terrorism as well as other purposes.

Apart from the EU’s MiCA regulations, new actions from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are also in the legal spotlight this year.

In 2022, the SEC ramped up to expand the crypto-asset enforcement team and will likely continue to put efforts this year.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler and his love-hate relationship with cryptocurrency made the headlines last year. Gensler asserted that the majority of cryptocurrencies are unregistered securities, except for Bitcoin.

Most recently, SEC Chairman said in the recent Twitter Space that the US troops have increasingly shown interest in cryptocurrency investment. The trend, according to Gensler, is a negative signal as he forecasted the future failure of most of the digital assets.

To wit,

“Most of these 10 or 15,000 tokens will fail. That’s because venture capital fails, new startups fail – but also because history tells us that there’s not much room for micro currencies, meaning, you know, we have the US dollar and Europe has the euro and the like.”

Despite its recent defense against cryptocurrencies, the SEC will not mull a ban on crypto activities.

The agency’s approach , unlike China, is to facilitate collaboration with other government bodies and banks and enhance regulatory oversight in the sector. The role of CFTC is expected to be clearer this year.