MiCA lifts trust in regulated crypto platforms: Bitpanda

European crypto users have placed more trust in regulated platforms since the European Union introduced its Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, according to Bitpanda co-CEO Christian Trummer.

Most users have “more faith” in regulated market participants and prefer licensed platforms to managing their own private keys, Trummer said. He contrasted that preference with the focus on self-custody often found in the “Crypto Twitter” community.

Trummer called for stricter enforcement of MiCA. Some crypto companies continue to serve customers in the European Union without the required authorization, giving them an advantage over firms that comply with the rules, he said.

“The problem there definitely is that it’s not strictly enforced by the regulators, because there are still other players on the market which offer the service to European customers and they don’t comply to the MiCA license,” Trummer said.

MiCA created common rules for crypto-asset services across the European Union. The framework’s grandfathering period for existing crypto service providers ended no later than July 1. National regulators were instructed to act against unauthorized firms that continued operating after their applicable transition periods.

The European Securities and Markets Authority has called for stronger supervisory powers to address unauthorized crypto services and companies based outside the European Union that solicit investors in the bloc without MiCA authorization.