The European Commission’s consultation could bring real-world assets, DeFi, and staking under a single framework, days after MiCA’s transitional deadline passed.
The ink was barely dry on MiCA’s full enforcement when Brussels moved to widen the framework. On May 20, 2026, the European Commission opened two parallel consultations on MiCA. Their goal was to review the current framework and consider extensions across new areas. Industry participants and lawmakers have already started calling the effort MiCA 2.0.
That review runs until August 31, 2026. It spans 86 questions across four thematic blocks and targets the biggest gaps in the original text. The timing tells the real story. The Commission opened the review with the enforcement milestone in sight, and closed public feedback with regulated stablecoin flows already scaling.
What the Commission’s Review Covers
The consultation targets areas where MiCA either fell short or never applied at all. The four thematic blocks span the perimeter of Europe’s next crypto regulatory phase.
- Stablecoins. The largest section addresses ARTs and EMTs under Titles III and IV. Topics include prudential and capital requirements alongside liquidity and reserve rules. The review also examines redemption rights, the interest payment prohibition, and financial stability safeguards. Global stablecoins and multi-issuance models complete the block.
- Tokenized real-world assets. The Commission is examining how tokenized bonds, funds, and other RWAs fit between MiCA and MiFID II. The current split between the two frameworks leaves classification gaps that the review aims to close.
- DeFi and staking. Both areas sit largely outside MiCA today. The Commission is now seeking input on how to bring decentralized protocols and staking services under supervisory oversight.
- Novel financial instruments. Wrapped tokens, synthetic assets, and tokenized fund products are all under review for potential classification.
The consultation does not yet produce law. However, industry observers expect the outcomes to shape a formal legislative proposal in the months ahead.
Why the Timing Matters
Europe hit its transitional deadline on July 1, 2026, closing Article 143’s grandfathering window after 18 months. Only 244 CASPs held full authorization across the EU and EEA by that date. Roughly 83% of previously registered firms remained unlicensed. Unauthorized providers now face fines of up to 12.5% of global annual turnover.
That enforcement phase set the perimeter for regulated crypto activity in Europe. The Commission’s review effectively asks the next question. Namely, whether that perimeter should widen to cover the parts of the market MiCA missed in 2023.
Inside MiCA’s Current Rulebook
MiCA delivers one framework across 27 member states with defined rules for issuance, reserves, and disclosure. The regulation splits stablecoins into two categories, and that distinction shapes almost every other rule. E-money tokens, or EMTs, peg to a single fiat currency, while asset-referenced tokens, or ARTs, back a basket of assets instead.
Every authorized issuer must back reserves 1:1 in segregated, liquid, high-quality assets. Holders receive a guaranteed right to redeem at par, in cash, at any time. Notably, issuers cannot pay interest on those holdings, which keeps compliant stablecoins structurally distinct from yield-bearing products.
The final piece is passportable licensing, which turns one national authorization into full EU coverage. As a result, a firm licensed in France, Luxembourg, or the Netherlands can serve all 27 markets from a single home base.
Ripple’s Full License Shows What Regulated Payment Rails Look Like
On July 6, 2026, Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier granted Ripple a full MiCA CASP authorization. The license covers all 30 European Economic Area countries.
Crucially, Ripple stacks that authorization on top of an existing EU Electronic Money Institution license. Together, the two form an end-to-end regulated payment product for institutions and businesses.
Cassie Craddock, Managing Director for UK and Europe at Ripple, described the moment plainly. “This CASP authorisation means Ripple enters the post-transitional MiCA era fully compliant and ready to scale,” she said. “The institutions we work with across Europe are looking to build their digital assets services alongside regulated partners, and Ripple is licensed and ready to meet that demand.”
Ripple now holds more than 75 regulatory licenses globally. Furthermore, its stablecoin RLUSD and the XRP Ledger underpin the payment flows those authorizations unlock.
The Compliant Lane Fills Out
Ripple is not moving into the regulated space alone. Several major issuers, bank consortiums, and infrastructure providers now operate inside MiCA’s boundaries.
- Circle. Its French entity holds an EMI license from ACPR. Additionally, Circle France received MiCA CASP authorization in May 2026. Consequently, USDC and EURC passport across the entire EEA. EURC now holds roughly 41% of the euro stablecoin market, up from 17% a year earlier.
- Qivalis. This bank-led joint venture is pursuing EMI authorization from the Dutch central bank. Members include BNP Paribas, ING, BBVA, CaixaBank, DZ BANK, KBC, Danske Bank, and UniCredit. More than two dozen additional institutions have joined. Fireblocks provides the infrastructure, and the token launches in the second half of 2026.
- Hadron-powered issuers. Tether’s Hadron tokenization platform now underpins two MiCA-compliant stablecoins. StablR issues EURR under that arrangement, and Oobit issues USDR.
These moves show the compliant lane broadening quickly. Across issuers, banks, and infrastructure providers, MiCA authorization is becoming a base requirement for European operations.
LATEST: @Revolut will delist $USDT for EEA users by August 31, joining @krakenfx, @OKX and others in removing the stablecoin as MiCA compliance requires platforms to drop non-approved tokens. pic.twitter.com/X6CBnR4H4e
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) July 7, 2026
Where Tether Stands
Tether did not apply for MiCA authorization for USDT, and as a result, USDT is no longer available on MiCA-licensed European exchanges. Those delistings occurred in waves during the transitional period rather than in a single event. Coinbase Europe removed USDT in December 2024, and Crypto.com followed in January 2025. Binance then halted USDT spot trading in the EEA that March, with Kraken, OKX, and Bitstamp doing the same shortly after.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether’s CEO, has publicly stated the reason. He cited MiCA’s requirement that a large share of e-money reserves sit in European bank deposits, with reports placing that range between 30% and 60%. Ardoino argued that placing 60% of USDT’s roughly $186 billion in EU banks would introduce systemic risk to those institutions. Tether’s current reserve model, by contrast, holds approximately 80% in short-dated US Treasuries.
USDT itself remains available through self-custody wallets, decentralized exchanges, and DeFi protocols, all of which sit outside MiCA Title V’s perimeter for centralized service providers. Tether’s Hadron tokenization platform, meanwhile, continues to power MiCA-compliant stablecoins from other issuers.
Open USD Signals a Gap Any Expansion Will Need to Address
One day before the MiCA deadline, on June 30, 2026, Open Standard announced Open USD (OUSD). The stablecoin has not yet launched. However, the consortium behind it drew immediate attention.
More than 140 partners backed the announcement. The list includes Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, BlackRock, BNY, Coinbase, Google, IBM, Ripple, OKX, and Standard Chartered. Furthermore, Stripe signaled OUSD will become its default stablecoin, and the token launches natively on Solana later in 2026.
OUSD’s economic design departs sharply from current stablecoin models. Specifically, the reserve yield flows to distribution partners rather than holders, which breaks from how Circle and Tether monetize their float. Zach Abrams, formerly of Stripe-acquired Bridge, leads the project under the independent Open Standard organization.
Circle’s stock dropped roughly 16% intraday on the announcement, and that market reaction signals what OUSD’s model implies. The design lands directly in the perimeter the Commission is now reviewing. MiCA prohibits interest payments to holders, yet wholesale yield-share to business partners is exactly the kind of arrangement the current framework does not directly address. As a result, expansion talks now include structural gaps like this one.
A Starting Line, Not a Finish Line
MiCA is now the working template for stablecoin regulation in a G7-scale economy. Other jurisdictions will study its outcomes as they build their own frameworks. The Commission’s review means the next version will absorb lessons the first draft could not anticipate.
Meanwhile, the United States passed the GENIUS Act in July 2025, establishing the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. That law requires 100% reserve backing with liquid assets and mandates monthly public disclosures of reserve composition. It also restricts issuance to insured depository subsidiaries, OCC-supervised nonbanks, and qualifying state-chartered entities. The implementation window runs 18 months from enactment, putting live enforcement in view for early 2027.
Between MiCA’s live enforcement, the Commission’s expansion review, and the GENIUS Act’s ramp-up, the shape of legal stablecoin flows is finally coming into focus. Compliance is the moat, and the firms that built for it are cleared to scale. What happens next depends on how far the perimeter widens and how quickly regulated infrastructure catches up to real-world demand.
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