The European Union is preparing to overhaul its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) just weeks after the framework became fully binding, with officials looking to close gaps around foreign stablecoin issuers and catch up with technologies that didn’t exist when the rules were drafted.
As per reports, the European Commission is also weighing whether to bring tokenization and non-EU stablecoin issuance more firmly within its regulatory reach, and has opened a stakeholder consultation running through September 30 to gather input before deciding how far to go.
MiCA’s core provisions took effect back in December 2024, but many crypto firms operated under a transition period that only expired on July 1 of this year. Barely a week into full enforcement, regulators are already signaling the rulebook needs updating.
Part of the impetus appears to be watching how the United States has moved on digital assets. Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act last summer gave American stablecoin issuers their first dedicated federal framework, and EU officials seem keen to make sure MiCA doesn’t fall behind or leave loopholes that foreign issuers could exploit. Ironically, MiCA’s stablecoin provisions are widely seen as tougher than their American counterpart.
The EU framework splits stablecoins into two buckets: e-money tokens tied to a single currency like the euro, and asset-referenced tokens backed by baskets of currencies, commodities, or other assets. E-money tokens must hold full reserves in safe assets and can’t pay holders yield, requirements that mirror what GENIUS demands of US payment stablecoins, though the American law is silent on the yield question
Asset-referenced tokens face a tougher bar still, with larger capital cushions, tighter liquidity rules, and direct oversight from the European Banking Authority, a category that also sweeps in certain real-world-asset tokens backed by things like commodities or property.
One area MiCA still doesn’t touch directly is tokenized securities, which continue to fall under the EU’s existing securities laws rather than the crypto framework — even as exchanges both inside and outside the bloc increasingly roll out tokenized stock products.
Separately, the EU’s securities watchdog, ESMA, announced on Wednesday it will launch a review of licensed crypto-asset service providers operational resilience, focusing heavily on how firms handle custody risk. The assessment will stretch from July through the first half of 2027 and will look at how well licensed firms protect customer holdings and cope with operational disruptions.
The push to revisit MiCA also comes against a backdrop of explosive growth in stablecoin usage. Artemis Analytics data shows total stablecoin transaction volume jumped 72% in 2025 to roughly $33 trillion.
