Ana Filipa Ribeiro [master’s student in European Union Law at the School of Law of University of Minho and ENDE Research Grant Holder (ref. UMINHO/BIM/2026/33)]

On 1 July 2026, the transitional period provided for under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR)[1] will expire across the European Union,[2] meaning that providers wishing to continue serving EU clients must either hold a MiCAR authorisation, benefit from another entitlement recognised under the Regulation,[3] or cease the provision of those services.[4] This date marks a decisive moment in the legal ordering of crypto-asset markets, since it is the point at which Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 becomes a concrete legal condition for access to the European market. More specifically, it is the moment at which national authorisation begins to operate as a Union-wide market-access decision with consequences for providers, competitors, users and host Member States across the internal market.

The legal significance of this transition lies in the regulatory architecture chosen by MiCAR. The Regulation seeks to overcome the previous fragmentation of national regimes by establishing uniform rules on authorisation, governance, conduct, prudential requirements, supervision and client protection.[5] Yet, it does so through a model in which authorisation is granted by national competent authorities,[6] while the effects of that authorisation may extend throughout the internal market by means of the European passport.[7] National administrative decisions, thus, acquire a Union-wide market-access function, insofar as an authorisation granted by one competent authority may determine the ability of a crypto-asset service provider to operate across several Member States.

That structure gives rise to a central tension in the legal ordering of EU crypto-asset markets. MiCAR presupposes that decentralised authorisation can coexist with integrated market access, provided that national supervisory practices remain sufficiently convergent.[8] The expiry of the transitional period places that assumption under practical scrutiny. If national authorities apply authorisation requirements with materially different levels of intensity, speed or interpretative strictness, operators subject to the same Regulation may enter the internal market under unequal supervisory conditions.[9] Hence, the concern extends beyond administrative coordination and reaches the conditions of competitive neutrality within the market framework that MiCAR is intended to create.

Continue reading “After the crypto deadline: who gets to enter Europe’s digital finance market?” →