The European Union’s cryptocurrency law, MiCA, is set to be implemented six months earlier than planned in Spain. This development is expected to have an impact on cryptocurrency companies that have already registered in the nation, such as Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase (COIN).
Effective at the end of the following year, the regulations will essentially apply to companies applying for new licences and will impose stringent consumer protection measures on cryptocurrency firms. Nevertheless, businesses that are already in operation under national law are allowed to continue for an additional 18 months. Regulators are concerned that an extended implementation period would disadvantage the roughly 2,000 crypto companies in the bloc that serve their customers.
The Spanish government has now set a December 2025 deadline for implementation, which is six months earlier than required by MiCA.
In a press release issued in Spanish on October 26, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Digital Transformation stated, “The government will shorten the transitional period of application… with the aim of creating a predictable and stable regulatory and supervisory framework.”
The European Securities and Markets Authority, an EU watchdog that is partially in charge of enforcing the law, urged nations to shorten the transition period in a letter dated October 17. The agency expressed concern that this could provide a consumer protection loophole for a sizable number of providers.
Leading cryptocurrency companies Bitstamp, Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Coinbase have already registered with the Bank of Spain under anti-money laundering regulations.