EU Parliament Calls for Broader Crypto Regulation Beyond MiCA: What to Expect

The European Parliament and the European Commission are pushing for broader crypto regulation beyond MiCA in 2026, opening a formal review that targets decentralised finance (DeFi), staking, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and tokenised assets that the current framework leaves largely untouched. The Commission is now consulting stakeholders until 30 September 2026 on whether to expand the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation to cover tokenisation and non-EU stablecoin issuers, with a revised legislative package widely expected in 2027. For crypto firms, blockchain start-ups and fintech entrepreneurs across the EU, this signals higher compliance costs and a wider supervisory net.

This is the central story in EU crypto regulation today: MiCA is no longer the finish line but the foundation. This article sets out exactly what the MiCA review covers, why DeFi and staking are the next frontiers, and what EU crypto investors and operators should do now.

What the European Parliament's Call for Broader Crypto Regulation Means

The European Parliament and Commission want to extend EU crypto rules beyond MiCA into areas it never regulated: DeFi protocols, staking services, NFTs and tokenised financial instruments. The Commission opened a targeted consultation in May 2026, running to 30 September 2026, to decide whether to reopen the legislation. A revised regime is expected in 2027.

MiCA, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, was designed as the world's first comprehensive framework for digital assets. Its transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, meaning any entity offering crypto-asset services to EU clients without a MiCA licence is now in breach of EU law and must stop. That hard deadline has focused minds in Brussels on what MiCA still fails to capture.

According to a Euronews report published on 8 July 2026, the EU intends to revise its crypto rules in 2027, driven partly by external pressure after the United States signed its GENIUS Act on stablecoins in 2025. One EU diplomat told Euronews: "Reopening the file seems unavoidable at this stage, not only in light of the position expressed by several European institutions, not least the ECB." The direction of travel is clear across EU member states, from Germany and France to the Netherlands, Spain and Poland.

MiCA's Current Scope and Its Limitations

MiCA regulates the issuance and trading of crypto-assets, stablecoins (asset-referenced and e-money tokens) and the conduct of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). It does not meaningfully cover fully decentralised protocols, staking-as-a-service, most NFTs, or the tokenisation of traditional financial assets. These gaps are the heart of the MiCA review.

The framework's blind spots have grown more consequential as the market has scaled. Global stablecoin transaction volumes surged 72% in 2025 to reach $33 trillion (around €28 trillion), according to figures cited by Euronews in July 2026, with roughly 95% of stablecoins worldwide backed by the US dollar. MiCA currently offers no clear treatment for non-EU stablecoin issuers operating in European markets, nor for the same token being issued from multiple jurisdictions.

The consultation document confirms the review will examine whether MiCA's scope should stretch to tokenised means of payment and tokenised deposits, products the Commission expects to grow substantially. This is a decisive shift: the EU is preparing to regulate not just speculative tokens but the tokenised plumbing of mainstream finance. For deeper background on how European rules are evolving, see our ongoing finance coverage.

DeFi, Staking, NFTs and Tokenised Assets: The Next Frontiers

DeFi regulation in Europe, staking crypto rules in the EU, and the treatment of tokenised assets and NFT regulation across member states are the four areas most likely to see new legislation. MiCA explicitly excludes fully decentralised services with no intermediary, leaving a supervisory vacuum that regulators now want to close.

A joint report by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and ESMA in 2025 assessed DeFi market size, EU financial-sector exposure, and risks spanning information and communication technology (ICT), money laundering and consumer protection. Its findings feed directly into the current review. The practical questions the EU is wrestling with include:

DeFi: Can a protocol without an identifiable operator be held to MiCA-style obligations, or is a new bespoke regime needed?
Staking: Should staking-as-a-service be treated like a regulated financial service, given custody and yield risks for retail users?
NFTs: Where is the line between a genuinely unique collectible (outside MiCA) and a fungible, investment-like token that should be regulated?
Tokenised assets: How should tokenised deposits, bonds and payment instruments be supervised as they move onto distributed ledger technology (DLT)?

The European Central Bank's own infrastructure plans underline the urgency. In March 2026 the ECB announced two new payment network initiatives, Pontes and Appia, designed to adapt eurozone settlement to tokenisation and DLT. When the central bank is building rails for tokenised money, the legislative framework cannot lag behind.

Impact on EU Crypto Businesses and Innovation

A wider regulatory perimeter means higher compliance costs, more licensing obligations and greater legal certainty in roughly equal measure. Firms in DeFi, staking and tokenisation that currently operate in a grey zone should expect to fall inside future rules, while MiCA-licensed CASPs face intensified supervision.

The end of the transitional period on 1 July 2026 has already reshaped the market. Providers without a licence must exit EU clients, consolidating activity among compliant, well-capitalised firms. That favours larger platforms in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Ireland that invested early in authorisation, and squeezes smaller start-ups that cannot absorb legal and audit costs.

For entrepreneurs, the strategic response is to treat compliance as a competitive moat rather than a burden. EU investors, meanwhile, gain clearer protections, though the transition period will bring reduced choice as non-compliant services withdraw. Our Baba International desk continues to track how these rules land in practice across member states.

ESMA's Role: Supervisory Actions and Operational Resilience

ESMA is the EU's lead supervisor for post-MiCA crypto oversight, and its newest tool is a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) on the digital operational resilience of crypto-asset service providers. Launched in July 2026, the CSA scrutinises how safely CASPs custody client assets, a direct response to hacks and operational failures that have cost retail users across Europe.

According to ESMA, the CSA (announced on 10 July 2026) focuses on custody services and assesses the maturity of CASPs' resilience frameworks against DLT-specific risks, including:

Governance arrangements and accountability
Cryptographic key and storage management
Transaction controls and incident detection and response
Smart contract risks and third-party provider dependencies

National Competent Authorities in each member state will run the exercise on a risk-based sample of authorised CASPs from the second half of 2026 into the first half of 2027, with a final report to ESMA's Board of Supervisors expected in the second half of 2027. The action aligns with ESMA's stated supervisory priorities, which flag both operational resilience and CASPs as key risk areas. This coordinated approach ensures that a firm licensed in one member state meets the same resilience bar as one licensed in another, reinforcing the single market.

Social Impact: Who Is Affected Across the EU

Broader crypto regulation is not an abstract policy debate: it directly shapes the financial safety of ordinary Europeans, particularly younger and lower-income investors who have flocked to staking yields and DeFi apps in search of returns that traditional savings accounts cannot match. When an unregulated staking platform fails or a DeFi protocol is exploited, it is often these households, not institutions, that lose savings they cannot afford to replace.

With stablecoin flows reaching €28 trillion globally in 2025 and 95% tied to the US dollar, EU regulators also worry about monetary sovereignty and consumer exposure to foreign-issued tokens with limited local protection. For a family in Spain, Italy or Poland holding a dollar stablecoin, the gap in EU oversight can mean no clear recourse if the issuer collapses. Extending MiCA to cover these products, and ESMA's push on custody resilience, is ultimately about ensuring the person on the street is not the last to know when something breaks. Readers focused on household financial resilience can also explore our digital finance and consumer coverage.

Future Legislative Outlook and Timelines

The realistic timeline points to a revised EU crypto framework in 2027. The consultation closes on 30 September 2026, after which the Commission will decide whether to propose amendments, followed by negotiation between the Parliament and Council, a process that typically takes many months.

Key dates EU market participants should mark:

30 September 2026: Deadline for the Commission's targeted MiCA review consultation.
Second half of 2026 to first half of 2027: ESMA's CSA on CASP operational resilience runs across member states.
2027: Expected publication of revised crypto legislation extending scope to tokenisation and non-EU stablecoin issuers.
Second half of 2027: ESMA's final CSA report to its Board of Supervisors.

Firms should treat the 2026 to 2027 window as a preparation runway, not a pause.

What EU Crypto Investors and Firms Should Do Now

The practical steps below help EU readers respond to the tightening regime and protect their money and their businesses:

Check your provider's MiCA status: Since 1 July 2026, only licensed CASPs may serve EU clients. Confirm your exchange or custodian holds authorisation in an EU member state before adding funds.
Review staking and DeFi exposure: Assume these areas will soon be regulated. Prefer providers that already publish audits, custody arrangements and clear risk disclosures.
Scrutinise stablecoin holdings: Favour EU-authorised e-money tokens over non-EU dollar stablecoins that may face restrictions after the review.
Firms: respond to the consultation: Blockchain and fintech companies can submit views before 30 September 2026 to shape the rules that will govern them.
Document operational resilience: CASPs should prepare governance, key-management and incident-response evidence ahead of ESMA's CSA reaching their national regulator.

Baba International Editorial Team

Our editorial team specialises in UK and EU personal finance, health policy, and economic analysis. All content is researched using authoritative sources including the ONS, NHS, Bank of England, ECB, and Eurostat.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MiCA being replaced in the EU?

No. MiCA remains in force and its transitional period ended on 1 July 2026. The European Commission is reviewing MiCA, with a consultation open until 30 September 2026, and is expected to propose amendments extending its scope in 2027 rather than replacing it.

Will DeFi and staking be regulated in the EU?

Very likely. The current review explicitly targets gaps in DeFi, staking, NFTs and tokenised assets, informed by a 2025 EBA and ESMA joint report on DeFi risks. New rules are anticipated as part of the 2027 legislative package.

What is ESMA's Common Supervisory Action on crypto?

Announced in July 2026, it is a coordinated EU-wide review of how crypto-asset service providers manage the operational resilience of custody services, covering key management, smart contract risks and incident response. It runs from the second half of 2026 into 2027.

How will the MiCA review affect non-EU stablecoins?

The review specifically examines non-EU stablecoin issuers, which MiCA does not clearly regulate today. With global stablecoin volumes hitting €28 trillion in 2025 and 95% dollar-backed, the EU is weighing tighter controls on foreign-issued tokens sold to European users.