MiCA 2.0 Is Coming — But Reform Faces Serious Resistance From Banks and Regulators

[cryptobro]

The conversation about revising MiCA is no longer hypothetical. European Commission adviser Peter Kerstens confirmed at Paris Blockchain Week in April that Brussels is likely to revisit the framework as the crypto market matures, opening the door to what is already being called MiCA 2.0. The Blockchain for Europe report lands at a moment when that debate is just beginning to take shape, and its specific proposals around reserve requirements, remuneration rules, and central bank access give reformers a concrete starting point. The fundamental question the debate will need to answer is whether the EU's priority is protecting the financial system from stablecoin risks or ensuring that European issuers can compete in a global market increasingly dominated by dollar-pegged tokens.

The resistance to any loosening of MiCA's safeguards is real and comes from credible sources. The European Banking Authority warned in October 2025 that proposed changes to MiCA's technical standards could weaken safeguards and increase regulatory arbitrage risks — a concern that reflects the banking sector's anxiety about stablecoins eroding deposit bases. The ECB's own macroprudential analysis this month highlighted that large-scale euro stablecoin adoption could concentrate demand in short-dated sovereign bonds and create liquidity pressures during redemptions, arguing that supervisors must manage these risks as the market develops. The tension between these concerns and the competitive reality that euro stablecoins hold less than 1% of global stablecoin volume will define the MiCA reform debate — and how Europe resolves it will determine whether the euro has a meaningful role in the next phase of digital finance or cedes that ground entirely to the dollar.

[cryptoenthusiast]

"targeted adjustments can address the gap without dismantling the safety architecture" — what you say when you need to fix your regulation without admitting you wrote it wrong

[JanEmil]

Only "benefit" is making things that work fine worse. Every time with EU.