The authority of the European Securities and Markets is looking for public feedback on proposed knowledge and competence standards for crypto service providers.
In a February 17 Consultation paperESMA has established new rules that require crypto service providers to ensure that their staff has the right qualifications and training to give advice or information about crypto assets to the public.
With this, the regulator wants to “ensure a minimum level of knowledge and competence of personnel that provides advice and information” to strengthen investor protection measures and to promote trust within crypto markets under the markets of the European Union in the regulation of crypto-assets .
According to the proposed rules, crypto companies must ensure that their staff meet knowledge standards, with advisers needed to have formal education, to come under supervision and to pass on an assessment before they offer advice.
Those who provide general information must experience at least 80 hours of training and six months under supervision, while advisers need a three -year course or equivalent experience. Employees must also undergo annual competence facilities and continuous professional development, with 10 hours of training for information providers and 20 hours for advisers.
In addition, crypto service providers would be obliged to document staff qualifications, regularly assess the effectiveness of the training and to ensure that automated advisory services meet these standards. In the meantime, new employees could only work under supervision without the required qualifications for a maximum of four years.
Given the ‘volatility of many crypto-assets’, the continuous creation of new assets and the ‘limited knowledge of market participants, in particular retail investors’, the regulator and competent service providers sees as a key to ensure knowledge and competence “and that companies “Acting in the best interest of customers,” said the newspaper.
Interested parties have until April 22, 2025 to submit their feedback on the proposed guidelines. It is expected that ESMA will complete the rules in the third quarter of 2025, with the new requirements that are expected to take effect 60 days after publication in all official EU languages.
The consultation document comes when crypto -companies search Mica Licensions and mark the first extensive regulatory framework of the European Union for the sector. Various companies have already received approval because Member States implement the requirements of the Regulation.
Last month, crypto.com established Crypto.com provided a mica label in Malta, only a few days after receiving provisional approval. On the same day Bitpanda obtained his mica license from the Federal Financial Supervision Authority of Germany.
