Regulators from France, Austria, and Italy urge the EU to strengthen coordination on cryptocurrency regulation

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, after discovering differences in the implementation of cryptocurrency regulations across countries, the financial regulators of France, Austria, and Italy urged the EU's top regulatory body to directly oversee large cryptocurrency companies and tighten relevant rules.

The EU will implement the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) by the end of 2024, requiring cryptocurrency companies to obtain a license in at least one EU member state to operate across the entire EU. In a position paper released on Monday, the financial market regulators of the three countries stated that this approach exposes "significant differences" in the regulation of companies across countries, allowing businesses to exploit loopholes, and suggested transferring oversight of the industry's largest firms to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). They also noted that the initial implementation of MiCA has shown limited convergence in regulation, making it difficult to ensure uniform EU standards. An ESMA spokesperson responded that they are working to ensure regulatory consistency and had already suggested reconsidering areas for strengthening EU-level regulation last year. Additionally, the three regulators may take precautionary measures to mitigate risks and called for enhanced regulation of global platforms, cybersecurity, and token issuance.