Introduction
MiCA was the beginning, not the end. This page tracks the regulatory workstreams that will affect EU crypto users in the coming years — from the MiCA review to the new European anti-money-laundering authority.
The MiCA review
MiCA contains a built-in evaluation: the European Commission reports on its functioning and may propose amendments ("MiCA II"). Expected themes: DeFi, crypto lending and staking, NFTs, and the treatment of non-EU platforms serving EU clients via reverse solicitation.
The AML package: AMLR and AMLA
The EU anti-money-laundering package brings crypto under directly harmonised AML rules (AMLR) and under the supervision of the new AMLA authority. Practical effects: stricter and more uniform KYC, limits on anonymous instruments, tighter screening of self-hosted wallets.
Transfer of Funds Regulation (TFR)
The "travel rule" obliges exchanges to attach sender and recipient information to crypto transfers. Users notice it at withdrawals to private wallets: ownership verification has become the norm.
DORA: operational resilience
DORA imposes digital-resilience requirements on financial firms including CASPs: incident reporting, testing, ICT vendor management. Indirectly good news: fewer prolonged outages without consequences.
The open ends: DeFi, NFTs, lending
MiCA leaves DeFi without a central entity, unique NFTs and crypto lending largely unregulated. All three are on the agenda for follow-up regulation.
What it means for you
- More uniformity: differences between member states shrink; jurisdiction shopping loses power.
- Stricter onboarding: more verification, including of your own wallets.
- Consolidation continues: compliance costs rise; expect further concentration among large, fully licensed platforms.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to act as a user?
Usually not directly — exchanges implement the rules. Expect periodic re-verification.
Is crypto being banned or normalised?
The EU line is clearly normalise-and-regulate, not ban.