Introduced for the initial time in 2020, the regulatory package will currently require the approval of the European Council before coming into force. 
After two consecutive delays, the European Parliament has conducted the final vote on the Markets in Crypto-Assets Act, known as MiCA. Currently, the legislation, presented for the initial time back in 2020, needs approval from the European Council before becoming effective regulation.
On April 20, instantly after voting, MiCA’s rapporteur and member of the European Parliament, Stefan Verger, reached MiCA “A milestone for the crypto asset industry.”
With MiCA, European policymakers aim to set standard rules and establish harmonized regulations for crypto assets at the EU position, thereby providing legal certainty for the crypto industry and investors. The rule will establish guidelines for the operation, structure, and governance of issuers of digital asset tokens. It'll also offer rules on transparency and disclosure conditions for publishing and trading crypto.
According to Chainalysis, the specific provisions of MiCA related to stablecoins will near into force in July 2024, while others, involving those on crypto assets service providers, will apply in January 2025.
The regulation is perceived mainly with cautious optimism. There are, still, a number of issues with the 400-page document. The current draft generally lacks any mention of decentralized finance (DeFi), fails to address the growing sector of crypto lending and staking, and doesn’t specify any regulations for nonfungible tokens.
Related: The Limitations of the EU’s new cryptocurrency regulations
At a recent committee during Paris Blockchain Week 2023, Janet Ho, head of EU policy at Chainalysis, told that the success of MiCA would be dependent on robust feedback and the reworking of certain parts of the documentation. He was joined by Nadia Filali, Caisse des Dépôts Group’s blockchain program director, who stressed the significance of governments, regulators and industry participants developing rules together.
Still, EU officials emphasized the protection of the investors as the major task of MiCA. As Joachim Schwerin, one of the principal economists within the European Commission, told in a recent interview, MiCA should minimize the negative consequences of incidents like the bankruptcy of FTX in the future.
(DAVID ATTLEE, Cointelegraph, 2023)