MiCA in Action: CNMV's View on Authorizations, Stablecoins and European Convergence

MiCA implementation: CNMV's view on CASP authorizations, stablecoins and European convergence

How is a national supervisor enforcing the MiCA regulation 5 years after its publication? In this MERGE Madrid interview, Spain's CNMV reviews its assessment of the framework, the pain points in CASP authorization processes, the stablecoin and EMT challenges and why supervisory convergence via ESMA is the next big task.

What you'll learn

• MiCA in context: how it fits within the EU's digital finance package alongside DORA and the DLT Pilot Regime, and why it doesn't cover NFTs or DeFi
• CASP authorization challenges: the difficulty of granularly defining services (exchange, execution, RTO) and why timelines have stretched significantly
• Unregulated services: staking and lending outside MiCA's scope, their risks and how they can contaminate the provider's balance sheet
• Stablecoins and dual nature: why EMTs are simultaneously crypto assets and electronic money, requiring dual licensing and creating real pain points
• Issuance under MiCA: the ESMA guidance differentiating financial instruments (with dividends/interest) from pure crypto assets, opening space for real-economy-linked tokens

Session summary

General assessment of MiCA. The CNMV defends MiCA as a solid and comprehensive regulatory framework, part of the EU's digital finance package alongside DORA and the DLT Pilot Regime. It was very forward-looking compared to other jurisdictions —published in 2020— and is supported by over 30 delegated acts and guidelines. However, it doesn't cover NFTs, DeFi, staking or lending: ESMA, via Article 142, has already analyzed risks in DeFi (cybersecurity, AML), lending and anonymity to prepare next regulatory steps.

CASP authorization challenges. Granular services (crypto-crypto exchange, crypto-fiat, execution, RTO) inspired by MiFID is positive but complex to apply to evolving business models. Many providers also offer unregulated services like staking and lending, which can have enough volume to contaminate the regulated balance sheet. Authorization timelines are running much longer than expected, also due to cybersecurity verification.

Stablecoins and the EMT dual nature. Stablecoins are foundational: USDT and USDC dominate global liquidity pairs and any restriction on their use directly impacts CASPs. MiCA's biggest pain point is the dual nature of e-money tokens: they are crypto assets (under MiCA) and electronic money at the same time, requiring licensing in two domains. The EBA has communicated to the sector that there are still many open questions.

Supervisory convergence and MiCA issuance. With over 20 countries authorizing CASPs, supervisory convergence is critical. ESMA and the Commission publish Q&As and supervisors work internally on supervision papers. ESMA's guidance on financial instruments clarifies that only crypto assets resembling a share or bond (dividends, interest) are financial instruments; the rest falls under MiCA, opening space to tokenize real-economy-linked assets.

Watch the full session

Watch the full interview on MERGE's YouTube channel, with the CNMV explaining the real challenges of applying MiCA, authorizing CASPs and working on European convergence with ESMA.

FAQs

What does MiCA cover and not cover?
It covers crypto assets, stablecoins (EMTs and ARTs) and CASP services. It does not cover NFTs, DeFi, staking or lending: these services are outside the scope and ESMA is analyzing them via Article 142 for future regulatory iterations.

Why do CASP authorizations take so long?
Because business models are complex and constantly evolving, many different services must be granularized (exchange, execution, RTO) and cybersecurity and compliance verification is exhaustive.

What is the EMT dual nature?
E-money tokens are simultaneously crypto assets under MiCA and electronic money, which can require two distinct licenses in two different regulatory domains and creates real operational uncertainties for issuers.

When is a crypto asset a financial instrument?
According to ESMA guidelines, only when it resembles a share or bond and offers dividends or interest. The rest is governed by MiCA, opening space to issue real-economy-linked crypto assets with rigorous valuation.