EBA Urges EU to Regulate Crypto Lending in MiCA Review

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has asked Brussels to strengthen its crypto rulebook, publishing its response to the European Commission’s targeted consultation on the review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on September 24. MiCA has been in full effect since December 30, 2024, but the regulator argues the sector is evolving too quickly for the framework to stand still, and it lists lending, stablecoins, asset classification and reporting among the areas that need work.

Crypto lending and DeFi in scope

The EBA’s most concrete request is for the Commission to consider regulating crypto-asset lending, including where crypto-asset service providers give customers access to decentralised lending protocols. It frames the move as a consumer-protection measure, warning that lending risks currently sit outside the perimeter MiCA was designed to cover and that borrowers and lenders have little of the disclosure and safeguards applied elsewhere in the market.

Multi-issuer stablecoins and reserve rules

On stablecoins, the EBA points to third-country multi-issuer schemes as a source of significant to very significant risk and recommends regulatory changes to contain them. It also wants a fresh look at reserve requirements, in particular the minimum amount of reserves issuers must hold as bank deposits, while preserving effective risk management. The authority said the existing requirements for asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs) are broadly appropriate.