ESMA Prioritizes MiCA and Crypto Oversight in 2027 Work Program
Key Takeaways
ESMA will standardize crypto provider supervision under MiCA, tightening market oversight across the EU.ESMA is deploying its MIDAS surveillance system to detect and prevent market abuse in digital assets.ESMA warned prediction platforms fall under binary option rules, requiring MiFID II compliance licenses.
ESMA to Focus on Crypto Assets Supervision and Surveillance in 2027
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s financial market watchdog, has published its 2027 Work Program, featuring crypto-assets front and center following the full implementation of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework.
Verena Ross, Chair of ESMA, stressed that this coming year, the institution would simplify and modernize its market supervision processes through “greater use of data and technology.”
Regarding crypto assets, ESMA stressed that it would continue “strong cooperation with National Competent Authorities (NCAs), including on supervision of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) under MiCA.”
In practice, this means ESMA will standardize supervision of crypto assets through new rules and the periodic reporting of sensitive information for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs).
The regulator also expects MIDAS, its centralized market surveillance system, to be fully operational in its first phase next year, using it to identify and prevent “potential market abuse cases.”
Tokenization will also be another area where ESMA will focus its action next year, mentioning the completion of support tasks, including issuing guidance and non-binding opinions, for the ongoing DLT Pilot Regime as an objective.
“Tokenization will remain as a priority for ESMA, further expanding the work on the opportunities it can bring to the EU capital markets,” the institution declared in a press release.
ESMA has been reviewing the activities of event contracts markets, also known as prediction markets, and it will keep discussing how to achieve convergence of its supervision tasks across the EU next year.
In this sense, it has already warned that many of these platforms fall under binary options regulation and should be licensed under MiFID II (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II).
“As financial markets continue to evolve, I know that ESMA and its staff will remain focused on ensuring that EU capital markets are efficient, resilient and attractive,” Ross concluded.
