EU regulators seek to strengthen MiCA oversight, with shared order books becoming a focal point

According to ChainCatcher, citing a report from CoinDesk, less than a year after the implementation of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), various issues have already begun to emerge, and regulators are working to prevent these problems from worsening. Currently, there are concerns that some member states are issuing licenses too quickly.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) intends to adopt more centralized and robust regulatory measures for cryptocurrencies within its jurisdiction, although the specific details of these plans remain unclear. One potential change involves the sharing of liquidity and the use of unified order books with regions outside the EU. From a regulatory perspective, shared order books can blur the responsibilities for trade matching, information disclosure, risk management, and best execution; from a trader's perspective, aggregating buy and sell orders among a wider group can create greater liquidity, enable more convenient trading, and result in more accurate pricing.

ESMA did not provide a specific response regarding the issue of shared order books, but stated in an email that its position, raised earlier this year during a Q&A session, is that "MiCA does not allow crypto trading firms to merge order books with any non-EU, non-MiCA regulated trading platforms." This stance is intended to ensure a level playing field for MiCA's application within the EU, and ESMA will continue to work towards this goal.