Europe’s MiCA Crypto Rules Are Coming Soon. Here’s Why They Matter

Europe’s MiCA Crypto Rules Are Coming Soon. Here’s Why They Matter
It’s often said that financial regulators are always fighting the last war. The European Union’s soon-to-be-ratified package of cryptocurrency regulations offers a telling example.The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework devotes a full 26 of its 168 pages to a subcategory it calls “asset-referenced tokens.” These are a type of stablecoin, or cryptocurrency designed to hold its value, but unlike dollar-pegged stablecoins such as USD coin (USDC) or tether (USDT), asset-referenced tokens are backed by a basket of different fiat currencies, commodities or crypto assets. The most famous example has not been issued, and likely won’t be anytime soon.That coin, of…