EU Parliament urges DeFi, staking, NFT regulation assessment
In brief
- European Parliament's economic affairs committee urged the Commission to assess DeFi, staking, NFTs, and crypto lending regulation.
- Nonbinding resolution tabled for July 7 plenary vote would establish Parliament's official digital assets policy stance.
- Resolution warns member states against national requirements beyond MiCA that could fragment EU crypto industry.
- Report backed euro-denominated stablecoins and called for consistent MiCA application across the bloc.
- MiCA's transitional period ends July 1; crypto providers must then hold EU authorization to operate.
Parliament's vision for crypto regulation
Belgian MEP Johan Van Overtveldt drafted the resolution as an own-initiative report by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. The committee-approved version called for promoting tokenization across financial services and encouraged the development of euro-denominated stablecoins to support the bloc's payment sector. The report argued that euro-denominated stablecoins could complement tokenized commercial bank deposits and wholesale central bank digital currencies while enabling faster and cheaper cross-border payments.
The resolution is nonbinding. If adopted, it would represent Parliament's official position on digital assets but wouldn't amend existing rules or impose new legal requirements on firms or member states.
Guarding against fragmentation
The report warned member states against introducing national requirements beyond MiCA that could fragment the bloc's digital asset industry. It also urged consistent application of MiCA across the EU to preserve a level playing field for crypto firms. This stance comes as the Commission launched a public consultation in May seeking feedback on whether MiCA should be expanded to cover DeFi, staking, lending, NFTs, and tokenized financial assets.
Van Overtveldt's earlier work on crypto regulation was shaped by the 2023 banking crisis. In that year, he called for tighter restrictions on cryptocurrencies following the turmoil surrounding Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank. The USDC issuer Circle held roughly $3.3 billion of its reserves at Silicon Valley Bank when it collapsed, briefly causing USDC to lose its dollar peg.
Timeline and implementation
MiCA's transitional period ends July 1, after which crypto asset service providers generally must hold authorization under the regulation to continue operating across the EU. The Parliament's vote on this resolution is scheduled for July 7, just days after that deadline takes effect.
