The law on cryptocurrencies in the EU has been officially published

Today, on June 9, the EU Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) law was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). In 20 days, it will come into force, although certain provisions regarding stablecoins will be implemented over the next year and a half. Lawyers warn that the rules will actually be applied from December 30, 2024. Only some provisions will come into effect a little earlier — on June 30, 2024.

On May 31, the document was signed by the President of the European Parliament Roberta Mecola and the Minister of Agriculture of Sweden Peter Kullgren.

The MiSA offers crypto companies, including cryptocurrency wallet manufacturers, to obtain a license to operate in the European Union. The exchanges will also be required to comply with all governance and consumer protection regulations in force in the EU.

The Digital Assets Directive is a comprehensive attempt by the EU to regulate cryptocurrency-related services that are not yet covered by existing legislation. The purpose of this regulation is to promote innovation and fair competition, ensure a high level of consumer protection, maintain market integrity, and enable cryptocurrency service providers to scale their business internationally.

The emergence of these rules is related to the numerous problems that the cryptocurrency sector has faced over the past year and a half — the collapse of TerraformLabs and the bankruptcy of FTX, problems in the traditional US banking system, and recent SEC lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase.

The European Parliament emphasized that the final version of the document has undergone numerous amendments, which is why it took so long to draft and pass the bill. The final version of the document was also translated into all languages of the EU member states.