EU to Reopen MiCA in 2027 to Cover Foreign Crypto Issuers

MICA News

The European Commission is preparing to reopen the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, the bloc’s landmark crypto framework known as MiCA, barely a week after the rules took full effect. The official consultation signals that the revision would extend supervision to non-EU crypto asset issuers and tokenized means of payment, with a formal proposal expected in 2027. The Commission is gathering stakeholder feedback through September 30 as it weighs whether to formally reopen the file, though lawmakers increasingly view a review as inevitable. The move indicates that Europe intends to close structural gaps before its rulebook hardens into the global compliance benchmark for digital assets circulating across member states.

At the center of the review lies a supervisory blind spot: MiCA does not specifically govern non-EU companies that issue crypto assets while operating inside the European market. That structure is difficult to police when a single asset, such as a widely used stablecoin, can carry several issuers spread across jurisdictions. Regulators want clearer authority over foreign entities whose tokens circulate freely among European users. The Commission is also expected to examine whether MiCA should capture tokenized bank deposits and other tokenized payment instruments, a category officials expect to expand rapidly. Bringing those products inside the perimeter would materially widen the regulation’s reach well beyond its current scope.

Global policy momentum is shaping Brussels’ thinking, with officials pointing to accelerating adoption abroad. In the United States, the GENIUS Act enacted in 2025 threw federal support behind dollar-backed tokens, and roughly 95% of the world’s stablecoins remain pegged to the US dollar. That dominance carries weight for European policymakers wary of ceding monetary influence. Stablecoin transaction volumes surged 72% during 2025 to reach approximately $33 trillion, a figure that now rivals mainstream payment networks. For the EU, expanding MiCA to foreign issuers is partly a defensive measure, ensuring that dollar-denominated instruments circulating in Europe fall under enforceable local oversight rather than remaining offshore and lightly supervised.

MiCA has already reshaped Europe’s trading landscape since taking full effect. Tether’s USDT has been removed from several EU exchanges over compliance concerns, and some global platforms have scaled back their regional footprint rather than meet the new licensing bar. The friction underscores how quickly the framework has begun sorting compliant operators from those unwilling or unable to adapt. For an altcoin market long accustomed to loosely supervised offshore venues, the shift forces liquidity toward authorized platforms. The early disruption also explains the Commission’s urgency: officials want to refine the rules while the market is still adjusting, rather than after fragmentation hardens into permanent structural imbalances.

Market-data platforms have moved to map the emerging licensed landscape. A newly published dashboard tracking MiCA-regulated exchanges went live on July 2, letting users compare authorization status, supervising authorities, market counts, fees and liquidity across venues. As of July 9, Kraken led on both spot liquidity, at roughly $415 million, and perpetual futures liquidity, near $228 million, while covering 1,704 markets, the most of any tracked platform. Coinbase followed with about $171 million in spot liquidity, and Crypto.com ranked among the leaders at roughly $131 million. Deep spot books, much like an automated market maker pool, keep large orders from moving price sharply.

The licensing divide has produced clear winners and losers. Binance failed to secure MiCA authorization by the end of June and suspended parts of its EU offering, though the exchange says it intends to reapply through another member state. Others moved faster: bitFlyer obtained approval to serve all 27 EU countries, using a single license as a passport across the bloc. Supervisors have tightened their grip too, with ESMA launching its first common oversight action on crypto custody since the transition period ended. Reports indicate that more than 80% of previously registered providers still lacked full authorization when the grace period lapsed, leaving service continuity in doubt for many operators.

Because MiCA is a regulatory framework rather than a tradable asset, COINOTAG’s proprietary 42-indicator composite S/R scoring engine returns no price, support or resistance levels here — there is no spot market to score. Our read instead centers on aggregate positioning: the COINOTAG Fear & Greed Index sits at 22 out of 100, or Extreme Fear, while Bitcoin dominance holds at 69.7% and total crypto market capitalization stands near $1.80 trillion. That mix points to risk-averse capital rotating toward Bitcoin and away from the broader altcoin complex, a defensive posture consistent with a cautious, bear-market-leaning tape. The bullish case is that regulatory clarity draws institutional flow into licensed European venues; the bearish invalidation is a deeper liquidity retreat that thins order books before compliant supply matures.