The European Banking Authority (EBA) has asked Brussels to strengthen its crypto rulebook, publishing its response to the European Commission’s targeted consultation on the review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on September 24. MiCA has been in full effect since December 30, 2024, but the regulator argues the sector is evolving too quickly for the framework to stand still, and it lists lending, stablecoins, asset classification and reporting among the areas that need work.
Crypto lending and DeFi in scope
The EBA’s most concrete request is for the Commission to consider regulating crypto-asset lending, including where crypto-asset service providers give customers access to decentralised lending protocols. It frames the move as a consumer-protection measure, warning that lending risks currently sit outside the perimeter MiCA was designed to cover and that borrowers and lenders have little of the disclosure and safeguards applied elsewhere in the market.
Multi-issuer stablecoins and reserve rules
On stablecoins, the EBA points to third-country multi-issuer schemes as a source of significant to very significant risk and recommends regulatory changes to contain them. It also wants a fresh look at reserve requirements, in particular the minimum amount of reserves issuers must hold as bank deposits, while preserving effective risk management. The authority said the existing requirements for asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs) are broadly appropriate.
Classification and reporting
The authority says inconsistent classification of crypto-assets under MiCA is causing avoidable costs and delays for firms and impeding innovation, undermining the competitiveness of the EU market, and it urges the Commission to clarify the scope and definitions of the regulation, including where MiCA ends and other financial rules such as MiFID and the Capital Requirements Directive begin. It also recommends reviewing the reporting framework for issuers and service providers so supervisors can monitor risk more effectively.
What comes next
The response lands as the bloc’s stablecoin rules come under broader review. The European Central Bank has already pushed to widen the stablecoin yield ban, and as of September 1 only 39 EMTs had been issued under MiCA while no ARTs had been authorised, a gap reflected in the fact that only three of the top fifty stablecoins meet EU rules. The EBA said it will keep supporting the Commission’s review with the aim of a robust, future-proof framework for the EU crypto-asset sector.
