đ November 1 | Brussels, European Union
Europe celebrated the arrival of MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets) as the continent's great regulatory shield. But now, a new opinion published by CoinDesk raises a disturbing warning: the much-lauded law could be incubating the next stablecoin crisis. Instead of strengthening financial stability, MiCAâaccording to several expertsâcould concentrate risk and stifle innovation, creating exactly the scenario it sought to avoid.
đ The MiCA framework officially came into effect this year, establishing strict rules for stablecoin issuers and crypto-asset platforms across the European Union.
However, its practical application is favoring a few financial giants, while excluding smaller issuers and decentralized projects unable to meet the capital, audit, and custody requirements.
CoinDesk argues that this concentration could trigger a domino effect:
Less competition â greater dependence on large issuers.
More regulation â less innovation and market resilience.
Excessive compliance â lower liquidity and greater vulnerability to shocks.
âMiCA seeks to protect the consumer, but in doing so, it is creating an ecosystem dominated by a few,â the author wrote, warning that a failure in a single issuer could drag down the entire European system.
Stablecoins like EURe or Circle EURC are emerging as the main beneficiaries of this regulated environment.
But, according to analysts, the enormous power concentrated in a few entities could generate a systemic vulnerability similar to that experienced by banks before 2008. Furthermore, compliance with MiCA imposes costs and registration times that are driving DeFi startups and protocols away from Europe.
While European regulators defend the law as a âglobal benchmarkâ for the digital financial order, critics warn of its rigidity.
Some analysts even suggest that MiCA could become a âmoral hazard experimentâ, where regulated actors assume the state will bail them out in case of crisis, which would encourage riskier behavior.
âThe problem isnât regulation, but regulation designed as if stablecoins were banks, when in reality they are hybrid infrastructuresâ.
Topic Opinion:
MiCA is a necessary step forward, but its implementation suffers from excessive centralization. Europe risks turning its crypto ecosystem into an oligopoly of stablebanks, controlled by the very actors that the blockchain system was intended to overcome. Stability is not achieved through more bureaucracy, but through diversity, transparency, and fair competition.
đŹ Do you think MiCA will be the salvation or the historic mistake of crypto in Europe?
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