TechFlow news, December 30 — According to Cryptonews, Marina Markezic, co-founder of the European Crypto Initiative (EUCI), said that the arrival of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation (MiCA) will trigger competition among EU member states to become the most attractive business destinations and attract investment. She noted that jurisdictions adopting MiCA will emerge as key crypto hubs, with Germany and France as strong contenders, while countries like Estonia, Malta, and Portugal could also draw global players through flexible regulations and competitive tax regimes.
Markezic explained that MiCA offers a "unified regulatory framework" enabling "license passporting," allowing companies approved in one member state to operate across the entire trading zone. The EUCI expects Europe to see a "more mature and regulated crypto market" in 2025, providing legal certainty for institutional and retail investors and promoting blockchain adoption.
However, Markezic also warned that MiCA’s implementation could lead to "considerable confusion," as the 27 member states may interpret the rules differently. Moreover, uncertainty remains over which projects and assets fall within MiCA’s scope, potentially subjecting smaller projects and emerging innovations to greater scrutiny and challenges. The EUCI also predicts that many tokens may be delisted from centralized platforms for failing to meet regulatory standards, and retail investors might face reduced diversity of stablecoins. Markezic believes MiCA will accelerate the institutionalization of the EU crypto market, driving mergers and acquisitions between traditional financial firms and crypto companies.
Erald Ghoos, General Manager of OKX Europe, predicted that 2025 will be a transformative year for the crypto industry, especially in Europe. He argued that Bitcoin’s all-time highs reflect growing trust and interest in digital assets, while MiCA provides the sector with a much-needed framework, offering greater clarity and security. Regarding decentralized finance (DeFi), although MiCA does not directly regulate it, regulatory ambiguity could create friction—particularly when member states attempt to regulate interfaces or access points to services. Chainalysis' Phil Larratt warned of rising violent cyberattacks, noting that social engineering and fraud account for about 40% of crimes in England and Wales. He emphasized that public authorities alone cannot address crime-related challenges and that a comprehensive, ecosystem-wide response is required.
