On 20 April 2023, the European Parliament adopted the Markets in
Crypto-Assets Regulation (the "MiCA"). The regulation was
formally adopted by the European Council on the 16 May 2023 after
the final vote. MiCA is directly applicable among the European
Union (the "EU") Member States without a need for any
additional transposition into national law.
Effects of the EU's MiCA ruling
As a large and rapidly expanding market, the lack of regulation
surrounding crypto-assets was unable to continue. Their very nature
of anonymity posed a danger, particularly in regard to money
laundering or as ransom payment to hackers penetrating the servers
of companies.
In an effort to bring all EU states up to speed and on the same
page, the rules in the MiCA agreement give EU states until the end
of 2024 to prepare a set of laws that will regulate and track all
crypto-assets. This includes crypto currencies, NFT's, issuers
of utility tokens, asset referenced tokens and