The European Commission adopted a legislative proposal on the
regulation of crypto-assets as a part of the digital finance
package in September 2020. This legislative proposal, Markets in
Crypto-Assets (the "MiCA") regulation, was approved by
the European Council on 5 October 2022 and is currently pending the
European Parliament's approval. MiCA will address crypto-assets
that are not currently governed by existing regulations, including
utility tokens, asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, and
establish a legal framework for crypto-asset services providers as
well as consumer protection.
Crypto-assets, the asset class earlier promising to
revolutionise finance, are currently struggling to maintain
relevance as FTX, the Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange unable
to meet the demand for customer withdrawals, filed for bankruptcy
in early November setting back the growing interest around
crypto-assets. During the aftermath, Ulrich Bindseil and
Jürgen Schaaf
