EU moves to shift oversight of major crypto firms from national regulators to ESMA
- —Threshold: at least 15 million active EU users or three of five significance criteria
- —Criteria include over €1 billion in crypto assets under custody and €4 billion in annual client transactions
- —ESMA would gain powers to request information, conduct inspections and impose penalties
- —A two-year transition is planned, with existing MiCA licenses remaining valid
Why it matters: Major exchanges such as Binance and Coinbase could fall under EU-level supervision, tightening oversight while raising compliance burdens.
Source: CryptoSlate