The European Parliament has approved the EU Commission’s proposed MICA legislation, which will introduce uniform regulatory standards for the crypto industry across EU countries. The proposed law will be sent to the European Council for final approval in the coming months.
The new legislation will introduce wide-reaching safeguards and regulations to protect clients and investors, including holding clients’ funds and adequate capital buffers for crypto exchanges, and proving stablecoin is backed 1:1 with cash. It will also introduce comprehensive anti-money-laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations.
The regulations will take at least two years to be implemented in each EU member state, with the €1,000 rule coming into effect by 2025.
In addition, the European Commission is laying the groundwork for new legislation that will launch the digital Euro, which will help Europe move closer to a widespread roll-out of digital payments.
The ECB has long been in favor of a digital Euro, and ECB President Christine Lagarde recently encouraged lawmakers to speed up the process.
