Key EU Parliament Committee Approves MiCA Agreement to Regulate Crypto – Regulation Bitcoin News

The European Parliament’s Economic Committee has supported the adoption of the comprehensive regulation Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA). It has also backed the introduction of rules to track cryptocurrency transfers, part of the EU’s latest anti-money laundering push.

The European Union’s MiCA encryption law passes one more hurdle before final adoption

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) has approved the preliminary agreement on a landmark piece of legislation tailored to regulate the EU’s crypto space. The vote, in which 28 members were in favor and only one against, comes ahead of parliament’s plenary vote on the new framework.

MEPs from @EP_Economy voted to confirm with 28/1 preliminary agreement on markets for cryptoassets #MICA @DrStefanBerger ahead of the final vote in plenary
30 June offer details ⬇️⬇️🗒️

— ECON Committee Press (@EP_Economics) 10 October 2022

Representatives of central EU institutions and member states reached an agreement on the MiCA proposal earlier this year. The Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) also supported the draft law, the Council of the European Union announced last week.

MiCA is intended to implement uniform rules for cryptoassets across the 27-strong bloc. Among the stated aims are to ensure consumer and environmental protection as well as to introduce protection against market manipulation and related economic crime.

The package applies to digital assets that are not covered by the EU’s existing laws on financial services. It aims to regulate the activities of providers of services related to cryptocurrencies, including issuance, exchange and trading.

“A step further… The outcome of the trilogue negotiation on MiCA was accepted by the ECON committee. Good news”, the mayor of the legislation, Stefan Berger, said on Twitter after ECON’s confirmation of the agreement between the EU Parliament, the Council and the Commission.

Countering money laundering risks related to crypto-assets is another priority for the EU authorities. Lawmakers from ECON and the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) also approved a preliminary agreement on anti-money laundering (AML) rules for crypto transfers, also reached at the end of June and in line with MiCA.

Under these, a so-called “travel rule” will be applied to cryptoasset flows, according to which information about the source of the assets and the recipient accompanies each transaction. The AML regulations will also apply to transactions from “unhosted wallets”, those from private users, when they interact with wallets managed by service providers.

Do you expect the European Parliament to pass the MiCA legislation? Share your thoughts on the topic in the comments section below.

Lubomir Tassev

Lubomir Tassev is a journalist from tech-savvy Eastern Europe who likes Hitchens’ quote: “To be a writer is what I am, rather than what I do.” Besides crypto, blockchain and fintech, international politics and economics are two other sources of inspiration.