TLDR
EU policymakers are starting a formal review of MiCA with an open consultation that could lead to a second regulatory package informally dubbed MiCA 2.
- The European Commission will launch a public consultation with no taboos, reviewing how MiCA works in practice and whether follow?up legislation such as MiCA 2 is needed.
- Likely focus areas include DeFi, NFTs, stablecoins, and possibly shifting supervision of big crypto firms to ESMA, which could tighten rules and accelerate consolidation.
- The review runs into 2027, so the near?term impact is signaling and compliance planning, but industry feedback now can shape the rules EU crypto firms face for the next decade.
Deep Dive
1. MiCA Review And MiCA 2
MiCA is the EUs single rulebook for crypto, covering stablecoins, utility tokens, and licensing for crypto?asset service providers (CASPs), with core rules phased in during 2024 and 2025.
At Paris Blockchain Week 2026, European Commission adviser Peter Kerstens said the Commission will review MiCA and open a public consultation to assess whether it supports market development, adding it would be rather unusual not to have a follow?on MiCA 2.
MiCA already contains a review clause that requires the Commission to report on its application by 30 June 2027 and allows it to accompany that review with legislative proposals if needed.
This is not a repeal of MiCA but a structured check?up that can lead to a second wave of rules if gaps or issues are identified.
2. Topics Likely On The Table
Officials signal the consultation will have no taboos, inviting views on where rules should be expanded, adjusted, or left unchanged as markets mature beyond MiCAs original assumptions.
Briefings highlight DeFi protocols, NFTs, environmental disclosures, and cross?border operational frictions as key themes, along with how MiCA treats euro versus dollar stablecoins and their settlement role in EU markets. A Commission?focused summary points to these areas as priorities for feedback from exchanges, DeFi platforms, and consumer groups here.
In parallel, the European Central Bank has backed a plan to move supervision of major CASPs from national regulators to the EU markets watchdog ESMA, which would centralize oversight under MiCA and any future MiCA 2 package here.
MiCA 2 could tighten rules on complex products and push more direct EU?level supervision, which tends to favor large, well?capitalized players.
3. Impact, Timing, And What To Watch
MiCA already imposes heavy fixed compliance costs; analysis of early licenses shows startups facing roughly 250,000500,000 in setup and annual compliance costs that scale much better for big incumbents here.
Any MiCA 2 package that adds new obligations on DeFi, NFTs, or stablecoins could therefore deepen consolidation unless it explicitly calibrates requirements for smaller firms and experimental models.
Key milestones to watch are: launch of the public consultation in 2026, industry responses on DeFi and stablecoins, the Commissions 2027 review report, and any draft legislative text that would formalize MiCA 2.
For EU?facing projects, engaging in the consultation and tracking ESMAs role may be as important as product work, because rule changes could reshape which business models remain viable.
Conclusion
The EU is moving from MiCA is done to how do we update and enforce it, with a wide?open consultation that explicitly entertains a MiCA 2. For crypto users and builders, the main effects will not be immediate price moves but gradual shifts in who can operate, how stablecoins and DeFi are treated, and whether supervision centralizes at the EU level, so it is worth tracking the consultation and early policy drafts closely.
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