EU's MiCA Bill Moves Forward Without Bitcoin Limiting Provision

The European Union's (EU) proposed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package is moving forward to the next phase of discussions without a controversial provision seeking to restrict the use of cryptos like bitcoin (BTC) that are based on proof-of-work.

• In the past few days, EU lawmakers have been negotiating a mandate for the proposed landmark legislation for digital assets, which does not contain a provision seeking to limit the use of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies in the EU, before it moves on to the trilogue negotiations between the parliament, council and commission.
• Earlier in the week, Stefan Berger, the parliamentarian overseeing the MiCA framework, expressed concerns that other EU leaders in favor of limiting the use of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies would make one last attempt to take the legislation to a full parliamentary vote ahead of the trilogue.
• The parliament has not challenged the negotiation mandate for MiCA, Berger tweeted early on Friday. The deadline for challenging the mandate ended at midnight on Thursday, according to Berger.
• The provision in question was defeated in a close committee vote on March 14.
• EU officials are also debating a number of issues including the inclusion of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) in the MiCA package, as well as which EU agencies should be given supervision powers over the crypto space.
• Berger said the MiCA trilogue is set to begin next week.

Read more: MiCA Could Still Be Delayed by EU Parliamentarians Over Proof-of-Work Provision