A bill known as the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation Bill (MiCA) is one step closer to becoming a law. Europe is now one step closer to regulating crypto.
Today, European Union legislators approved the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulations (MiCA), a landmark legislation that aims to regulate digital assets within the union.
Officials from the European Parliament voted 28-1 in favor of the legislation. If passed, it will impose more stringent rules for crypto-company owners.
The MiCA bill requires crypto-asset issuers to publish a white paper containing information about their projects.
It also requires stablecoin companies to meet capital requirements. These entities will be limited in the number of tokens that they can issue if they don’t denominate in euros or any other currency used by E.U. member states.
Stablecoins digital assets are set to have a fixed cost, unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum. They are often tied to fiat currencies such as the U.S. Dollar.
MiCA also plans to regulate cryptocurrency mining. The bill requires large “crypto-assets services providers” to reveal their energy consumption. Mining cryptocurrency is an energy-intensive industry and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin have greater carbon footprints than whole countries.
The E.U. According to Brian Fyre, a University of Kentucky law professor who is a specialist in securities and NFTs, unique tokens that are issued on a blockchain and linked to assets like artwork, could be classified securities under new bill.
E.U. MiCA has been a topic of debate for more than two years. In the words of MEP Stefan Berger, the EU is trying to regulate the “Wild West” of the crypto-world.
Today, the EU Parliament passed an anti-money laundering bill. It requires that crypto transfers include data about the payer and payee.
The bill is in line with the MiCA and asks crypto-assets providers to give information to authorities in case of money laundering or terrorist financing investigations.
The final approval of the MiCA legislation will be voted on by European Parliament officials later in the month, before it becomes law.
