The European Union could bring DeFi access providers, staking and crypto lending under a broader MiCA framework after ESMA proposed new rules for services that remain partly outside the bloc’
The European Union could bring DeFi access providers, staking and crypto lending under a broader MiCA framework after ESMA proposed new rules for services that remain partly outside the bloc’s existing crypto regime.
Firms that provide users with access to decentralized finance protocols would become a new regulated crypto-asset service, while clearer criteria would determine when a protocol is sufficiently decentralized to remain outside intermediary-focused requirements.
The proposals arrived as the European Commission’s MiCA review consultation closed on September 30. Any expansion would still require further EU policymaking and potentially legislative amendments rather than taking effect automatically from ESMA’s recommendations.
Staking, lending and borrowing services would face proportionate requirements covering costs, risks, expected rewards, collateral arrangements and potential losses.
MiCA currently contains no dedicated licensing regime for staking itself. Direct participation in proof-of-stake consensus remains distinct from staking-as-a-service, where an intermediary stakes customer assets on their behalf. Existing rules already prevent crypto-asset service providers from using client assets for their own account.
The proposed changes would place intermediary staking and lending products more explicitly inside a common EU framework, reducing differences in how national regulators treat services that were not fully addressed when MiCA was drafted.
That push follows the end of Europe’s MiCA transition in July, when unauthorized crypto firms were required to begin winding down services rather than continue operating through older national registrations.
Regulated crypto firms would also face explicit restrictions on offering services connected to stablecoins that fail MiCA requirements.
The change would close uncertainty around whether an authorized platform can continue supporting a token that does not meet the bloc’s rules for asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens. MiCA already regulates issuance and public offering of those assets, but ESMA wants the service-provider restrictions stated directly.
Supervisors would gain stronger tools against unauthorized third-country firms, fraudulent websites and crypto assets linked to suspected market abuse or terrorist financing. ESMA also wants binding powers over crypto-asset classification, including hybrid tokens that combine characteristics from multiple regulatory categories.
Europe had already issued roughly 230 MiCA licenses by late June, turning differences in national interpretation into a larger issue as licensed firms began passporting services across the bloc.
MiCA’s existing review mandate already requires EU policymakers to examine the appropriate treatment of decentralized finance, crypto lending and borrowing. The latest proposals move that debate toward a distinction between autonomous protocols and businesses that provide an identifiable access layer around them.
The Commission’s consultation opened on May 20 and closed on September 30, 2026. Its findings can feed into the formal MiCA review and, where policymakers decide the current framework is insufficient, a future legislative proposal expanding the regulation.
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