Overview
- The European Central Bank, in a formal opinion on Friday, endorsed shifting supervision of systemically important crypto-asset service providers to the EU markets regulator ESMA.
- ESMA, based in Paris, would take over from national regulators for large cross-border platforms to end passporting that lets firms pick countries with lighter rules under the MiCA framework.
- Reported draft screens include more than 1 million yearly EU users, over €3 billion in assets, or 200,000 users outside a firm’s home country, with qualitative tests for firms that act as custody, liquidity, or stablecoin hubs, all subject to negotiation.
- France and Germany back centralization, while Ireland, Luxembourg, and Malta resist losing oversight as the proposal enters months of talks between EU governments and the European Parliament.
- The ECB said ESMA needs more staff and funding and asked for a non-voting board seat, warning that closer ties between crypto and banks raise the risk of shocks, with firms like Binance and Coinbase likely candidates for direct EU scrutiny.