Thoughts on the impending MiCA enforcement for crypto firms?
With MiCA just around the corner, especially for crypto asset service providers, I'm trying to get a handle on the practical implications for existing operations. Beyond the obvious licensing requirements, what are the bigger operational shifts you anticipate? Particularly interested in how this will impact client onboarding flows and transaction monitoring for smaller firms that might not have the same deep compliance teams as the big players. Are there specific areas, perhaps around DeFi integration or tokenized securities, that you foresee becoming major bottlenecks or opportunities under the new framework?
It's going to be a huge headache for smaller players. They'll either need to invest heavily in compliance tech and personnel or just exit the EU market. The costs will likely push a lot of them out.