The European Commission is seeking industry feedback on whether it should expand its Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation to include decentralized finance, non-fungible tokens, staking, lending, prediction markets and tokenized deposits which are currently outside the scope of MiCA.
Although MiCA currently exempts fully decentralized services from regulation, policymakers are increasingly concerned that the rapid growth of DeFi has exceeded the assumptions underlying that exemption. A major obstacle is the lack of consensus on how to define decentralization and how to identify protocols that actually function without centralized control.
Regulators are weighing how to determine whether the protocols are truly decentralized and whether crypto companies should only connect users to certified or vetted DeFi applications. The consultation, open until August 31, 2026, further explores certification schemes for DeFi protocols, smart contracts and non-custodial wallet providers.
Policymakers are also examining long-standing regulatory gaps around crypto lending, lending, NFTs, prediction markets and perpetual futures, including whether some activities should fall under MiCA or the stricter MiFID framework.
In the area of tokenized deposits, regulators are assessing a wide range of use cases, ranging from cross-border payments to atomic securities settlement, and whether the existing banking framework adequately covers them.