The European Union’s new regulatory framework for crypto, MiCA, will make European crypto startups much more enticing to buyers, one professional has argued.
Writing on Twitter final week, Patrick Hansen, Director of Technique and Coverage at USDC-issuer Circle, stated that “the MiCA impact” can already be seen in investments flowing into European crypto companies.
“The share of VC funding into European crypto initiatives is up virtually 10x in a single yr – from a share of 5.9% in Q1 2022 to 47.6% in Q2 2023,” Hansen wrote within the tweet, whereas noting that that is largely because of the regulatory readability the brand new legislation has supplied.
He went on to name the brand new legislation a “nice improvement for crypto in Europe.”
MiCA, which is brief for Markets in Crypto Belongings, is a brand new and complete regulatory framework for crypto within the EU.
The EU first reached an agreement on MiCA in July final yr. The invoice goals to manage all crypto-related actions throughout the EU territory, with a particular deal with the issuance of varied digital tokens.
It’s going to additionally carry rather more stringent oversight for corporations which can be outlined as crypto-asset service suppliers (CASPs), which incorporates many alternative of crypto custody suppliers.
The bill was passed by the European Parliament in March this yr, after first passing a vote in the European Council in October final yr.
“A regulated path for stablecoins in Europe”
In October final yr, Circle’s Hansen stated throughout a summit in Brussels that the brand new legislation means we now have “a regulated path for stablecoins in Europe.”
He added that Circle plans to make its present euro-backed stablecoin fully compliant with the brand new laws, and stated incentives for utilizing its Euro Coin (EUROC) will now develop provided that the euro is the second-most used forex worldwide.
Nonetheless, Circle and Hansen usually are not the one ones from the business who’ve excessive hopes for crypto in Europe following implementation of MiCA.
When the legislation was handed by the European Parliament final month, Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of the world’s largest crypto change Binance, additionally praised the invoice, saying it’ll “protect users and support innovation.”
“The positive particulars will matter, however total we expect this can be a pragmatic answer to the challenges we collectively face,” the Binance boss added on the time.
