The year 2022 saw not only drastic dips in leading cryptocurrencies and financial markets in general but also major legislative frameworks for crypto in prominent jurisdictions. And while the “crypto bill,” co-sponsored by United States senators Cynthia Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand, still has a long way to go, its European counterpart, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), had finally made it through Tripartite negotiations.
On June 30, Stefan Berger, European Parliament member and rapporteur for the MiCA regulation, revealed that a “balanced” deal had been struck, which has made the European Union the first continent with crypto-asset regulation. Is the deal really that “balanced,” and how could it affect crypto at large and some of its most important sectors in particular?