The European regulator publishes the second consultation on MiCA Cryptocurrency scrgruppen

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Union’s markets regulator, Released A second consultation paper on Markets for Cryptoassets (MiCA) will be released on October 5th.

In 307 pages documentESMA is seeking stakeholder input on five areas of MiCA, including sustainability indicators for distributed ledgers, internal information disclosure, technical requirements for white papers, and commercial transparency and record-keeping measures for crypto asset service providers (CASPs).

Among the sustainability indicators, the authority counts quantitative metrics on energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and waste production, along with a qualitative statement on the impact of the use of equipment by blockchain network nodes on natural resources.

As for post-trade transparency, the Securities and Markets Commission proposes requiring CASPs to report the date and time of the trade and posting, cryptoasset identification, pricing information, quantity, execution location, and transaction identifier.

Related: European Banking Authority calls for early adoption of stablecoin standards

The Securities and Markets Authority also proposes to allow CASPs to store transaction data “in the format they consider most appropriate”, provided they are able to convert it to a specified format if requested by the authorities.

The regulator will publish a final report based on the comments received and will submit draft technical standards to the European Commission by 30 June 2024. However, before that, it will also publish a third consultation package in the first quarter of 2024.

The Securities and Markets Authority issued its previous consultation paper in July. In it, the Securities and Markets Authority proposed requiring cryptocurrency companies, which will be registered under MiCA, to continue to provide additional information in the form of notifications to the National Competent Authorities (NCAs) in the country in which they will be registered.