Key points to remember
- European Union Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA) vote pushed back to April.
- The 400-page text would need to be translated into 24 languages, which presents problems.
- MiCA aims to combat money laundering in the crypto industry and ensure that issuers of stablecoins have sufficient reserves.
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The European Union is struggling to quickly translate its 400-page proposed crypto legislation into the bloc’s 24 official languages; the heist forces him to postpone the vote for another two months.
400 pages to translate
The European Union continues to push back on crypto regulation.
MEPs will not vote on the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation in February, as originally planned, but in April 2022, according to a report from Decrypt.
MiCA would represent a major step towards establishing rules for how digital assets and the crypto industry as a whole would be regulated in the 27 EU member countries.
This is the second time the legislation has been delayed. The vote was originally scheduled for December. The delays are said to be due to translation problems, as the 400-page document needs to be translated into the 24 official languages of the Union.
Among other things, MiCA seeks to impose regulations on crypto asset service providers and stablecoin issuers. Rigorous identity checks would be required of service providers in order to combat money laundering, sanctions evasion and terrorist financing. Stablecoin issuers should also hold sufficient reserves to avoid another situation like the collapse of Terra.
MiCA is also looking to impose restrictions on dollar-denominated stablecoins like USDT and USDC; the settlement follows concerns about preserving the sovereignty of the euro.
Crypto miners may also be forced to disclose their energy consumption, due to environmental concerns. The European Union recently decided not to ban proof-of-work protocols such as Bitcoin.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this article, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.
