ESMA Pivots From Rule-Making To Rule-Watching: MiCA's Supervision Era Begins 📋

The European Securities and Markets Authority will shift its crypto coordination focus in 2027 toward operational resilience, outsourcing risks and ensuring crypto asset service providers maintain sufficient operations inside the European Union as implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation deepens, according to ESMA's 2027 work program published Monday. ESMA Chair Verena Ross told the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs that the regulator's priorities under MiCA have moved "from rulemaking towards supervision and convergence," adding that ESMA wants "innovation to flourish within a framework that provides clarity for firms, safeguards for investors and confidence in the markets."

ESMA plans to strengthen coordination among national regulators supervising crypto asset service providers, with operational resilience, outsourcing risks, liquidity, reverse solicitation and asset classification among its listed areas of focus. The regulator also intends to harmonize CASPs' periodic reporting to national competent authorities and promote common risk indicators and supervisory dashboards across the bloc.

The watchdog will continue advancing MIDAS, its centralized crypto-market surveillance system designed to monitor potential market abuse under MiCA, with the first phase expected to be fully operational in 2027. Monday's work program said ESMA would add analytical features and expand the types of data available in a second phase, with rollout scheduled for the fourth quarter subject to board approval. ESMA previously disclosed plans for the second phase in February.

ESMA also plans to channel its supervisory experience into the European Commission's MiCA review, expected by June 2027, and prepare for any legislative proposal that may follow. The development comes as the European Central Bank and other EU central banks have separately sought changes to MiCA's minimum bank deposit requirements for stablecoins.