The markets in crypto-assets regulation (MiCA) and the EU digital finance strategy

Global stablecoins (GSCs) have attracted significant global political, regulatory and supervisory attention following Facebook’s proposal for the creation of Libra (now renamed ‘Diem’)—a combination of a private cryptocurrency fixed in value to major fiat currencies mated with its own and other global electronic payment and identification systems.1 Beyond the high-profile example of Libra and other potential GSCs, the question of regulatory treatment of crypto-assets has been a major focus of regulators and market participants across the world since the launch of Bitcoin in 2009 and in particular in the course of the crypto bubble of 2018.2 Not only across the world, but also in the context of the EU, legal uncertainty remains, resulting in divergent approaches to crypto-assets, token offerings and stablecoins.