ESMA Shifts MiCA Focus to Crypto Supervision

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is shifting its focus under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) from rulemaking to supervision and greater consistency among national regulators.

ESMA Chair Verena Ross announced the change during a September 28 meeting of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. The regulator’s 2027 work program identifies operational resilience, outsourcing, sufficient operations within the EU, liquidity, reverse solicitation, and crypto-asset classification as priorities for supervisory convergence.

ESMA will work with national competent authorities to standardize periodic reporting by crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and develop common risk indicators and supervisory dashboards. National authorities remain responsible for licensing and day-to-day supervision of CASPs under the current framework.

The regulator also plans to bring the first phase of its MIDAS crypto market surveillance system fully online in 2027. The system is designed to help national authorities monitor potential market abuse across crypto markets. A second phase, which would add further analytical capabilities, is subject to approval by ESMA’s Board.

ESMA said the end of the MiCA transitional period on July 1 marked another step in the regulation’s implementation. Its supervisory work will also contribute to the European Commission’s planned review of MiCA, which is expected by June 2027.

After more than two years of developing MiCA’s technical standards and guidelines, ESMA said its next phase will focus on how the rules are applied in practice and on reducing differences between national supervisory approaches.