As MiCA takes effect across the EU, legal experts and crypto founders say the regulation may bring clarity, but not without casualties.

Key Takeaways:

  • MiCA is raising the bar for compliance, forcing smaller crypto firms to exit the EU market or radically adapt.
  • Experts say the real challenge isn’t legal. It’s cultural, as many teams must shift to operating like traditional finance firms.
  • Latvia is emerging as a MiCA frontrunner, thanks to fast-track licensing and early regulatory readiness.

The rollout of Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) has been one of the most significant regulatory shifts in Europe’s crypto landscape. With unified rules finally in place, the goal is to bring order to a fragmented market. But the transition won’t be easy for everyone.

At the UN:BLOCK conference in Riga, held on April 22–24, Cryptonews spoke with legal experts, industry founders, and regulatory insiders about what MiCA will actually change and who’s best positioned to adapt.

Compliance or Exit: How MiCA Is Reshaping the Market

Speaking with Cryptonews at the conference, Rūdolfs Eņģelis, partner at Sorainen, said:

“In the short term, the market structure in the EU will be affected because smaller players, who cannot afford the cost and time burden of both getting the license and then ensuring ongoing compliance, will exit the EU market.”

In the long term, MiCA may deepen global regulatory fragmentation unless major regions align on shared standards:

“This risks causing silos or effectively divergent pockets of regulation globally, and crypto trading between these pockets will be impeded unless the key standards are unified.”

From Paradigm Shift to Culture Shock

At the same event, Agneta Rumpa, senior associate at Sorainen, told Cryptonews:

“For players who have been operating without a heavy regulatory framework for years, stepping into the MiCA licensing process means a true paradigm shift.”

She explained that compliance now goes far beyond product design or user experience:

“Teams need to start looking at all aspects of their business from the perspective of how a classic financial entity would operate, and having internal policies and procedures on not just products. But accounting, business continuity, management of conflicts of interest, highly regulated outsourcing of services from other firms, etc.” 

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