Are cryptocurrencies entering the era of regulation with the launch of MiCA?

Cryptocurrency and Web3 companies have been calling for greater regulatory clarity for years.

And now, with news breaking on Sunday (June 30) that the European Union’s landmark Cryptocurrency Markets Act (MiCA) is introducing new regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuers, observers are wondering whether the “Wild West” days of the digital asset sector are fading away. .

After all, the digital asset and cryptocurrency industry shows no signs of waning as we approach the second quarter of the 21st century. Stricter disclosure requirements, regular audits of cryptocurrency firms, and stricter capital reserve requirements will help build trust and transparency across the market — and the EU’s implementation of MiCA stablecoin regulations puts the EU at the forefront of cryptocurrency regulation.

On Monday (July 1), stablecoin issuer Circle announced that it has obtained an electronic money institution (EMI) license, becoming the first global stablecoin issuer to receive the necessary license to issue dollar- and euro-pegged stablecoin tokens within the EU under the MiCA framework.

“Achieving MiCA compliance with our French EMI license is a significant step forward not only for Circle, but for the entire digital financial ecosystem in Europe and beyond,” Circle Chief Strategy Officer and Global Policy Officer Dante Disparte said in a statement. “As digital assets become increasingly integrated into mainstream finance, it is essential to establish a robust, transparent framework to promote trust and adoption… building a more inclusive and compliant future for online finance.”

Of the top 10 stablecoins by market capitalization, only USDC is currently MiCA compliant.

read more: What does the July implementation of the EU MiCA act mean for global regulation

No more shortcuts and bypassing the rules for crypto companies

“Circle’s announcement today is a milestone in the continued development of the online financial system, with one of the world’s largest economies establishing clear regulations that make stablecoins legal electronic money and launching a phase of development of the cryptocurrency market as an essential infrastructure for payments, finance and commerce,” Circle co-founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire said in: Monday’s entry on X (formerly Twitter), noting that MiCA marks “the beginning of a major phase of growth and adoption” for digital assets.

Just 10 years ago, the thought of passing global laws introducing stablecoins into the financial system of the world’s third-largest economy would have been unthinkable.

This also means that there will be no more regulatory shortcuts or shortcuts for cryptocurrency and Web3 companies – at least not in Europe.

As Amias Gerety, partner at QED Investors, told PYMNTS last June, “the cryptocurrency community believed and had a real belief that what they were doing was so new that existing laws could not apply. And in the history of financial services, there has essentially never been a group of people with any commercial success who had that belief… once you have that belief, you start making excuses not to comply.”

However, with Sunday’s implementation of MiCA, the era in which the crypto sector chose to rely on regulatory havens while seeking open access to global markets has passed.

“Looking forward, I hope that ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) will work with the industry to help companies comply with regulations rather than impose regulations through enforcement actions such as fines or penalties,” Eleanor Gaywood, chief strategy officer at Coincover, told PYMNTS.

read more:What CFOs should know about the growing use of stablecoins

The EU wasn’t the only major global economy to recently debut a crypto-focused platform.

On Friday (June 28), the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published new regulations regarding tax reporting requirements for the sale and exchange of digital assets. The regulations are intended to help taxpayers submit correct returns and pay taxes already due under applicable law.

Decentralized platforms that do not hold assets themselves will be exempt from IRS regulations, while other, custodial crypto platforms will be required to report transactions to the IRS starting in 2026.

“These final regulations will implement a bipartisan directive from Congress to ensure that digital asset owners have the information they need from broker-dealers to make filing their taxes more accurate, easier, and less expensive, and that the IRS has the information it needs to address the tax evasion risks posed by digital assets,” an IRS spokesperson said in a statement to PYMNTS.