What 2025’s crypto milestone means for European firms in 2026

2025 has been one of the busiest years in recent memory for anti-financial crime (AFC) in Europe. One of the most significant developments was the initiation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Europe’s first comprehensive framework for crypto oversight. 

Its arrival marks a turning point: crypto is no longer operating on the periphery of financial regulation. The sector is now held to standards much closer to traditional finance, especially when it comes to market integrity and financial crime prevention.

Below is a brief look at what MiCA means for the industry and how crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) can prepare for the regulatory expectations that now apply.

What MiCA is – and why it matters

MiCA is the EU’s first unified legal framework for crypto-assets. The regulation brings clarity and harmony to an ecosystem previously defined by fragmented national rules.

For the first time, Europe has a single rulebook covering:

• Crypto-asset issuers, including stablecoin and asset-referenced token issuers
• Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) such as exchanges, custodians and wallet providers
• Market abuse rules aligned with EU financial markets standards

At its core, MiCA aims to make crypto more transparent and easier to supervise across the EU’s 27 member states.

A new standard for market integrity

One of the most impactful shifts is MiCA’s introduction of EU-level market abuse rules for crypto assets, something the sector has never been formally subject to before.

CASPs must now detect and prevent behaviours such as:

• Insider trading
• Market manipulation
• Unlawful disclosure of inside information
• Trading patterns designed to distort token prices

Surveillance expectations mirror those under MAR (Market Abuse Regulation), but with crypto-specific twists, such as focusing on 24/7 trading, decentralised venues, cross-chain activity and pseudonymous wallets.

For many firms, this is the first time they must implement continuous surveillance capable of analysing both on-chain and off-chain activity.

Strengthened AML requirements

MiCA complements and reinforces Europe’s existing AML laws.

CASPs remain subject to existing AML/CTF obligations, including the Travel Rule. Identity information must now accompany crypto transfers, even across decentralised or international platforms.

For compliance teams, this creates new operational challenges:

• Identity data needs to “travel” alongside blockchain transactions
• Wallet screening and counterparty identification are now essential
• Crypto transfers must be monitored not only as payments, but as movements of value and ownership
• AML and market abuse functions increasingly need to collaborate

In practice, firms now require infrastructure capable of combining blockchain analytics, customer profiles, trading activity and real-time risk signals.

What MiCA means for CASPs in 2026 and beyond

With MiCA fully in force, regulators are shifting their focus from planning to supervision and enforcement.

CASPs should be prepared for:

• More audits and requests for evidence of surveillance
• Greater scrutiny of governance and staffing
• Expectations of documented alert explanations and clear audit trails
• Closer monitoring of stablecoins and asset-referenced tokens
• A more harmonised supervisory approach across the EU

2026 will also mark the first full year in which ESMA’s supervisory guidelines and national enforcement tools are applied consistently. Firms that invested early in technology and processes will be in a stronger position as regulatory pressure increases.

How to prepare: key actions for crypto firms

To navigate MiCA effectively, crypto businesses should prioritise:

1. Implementing robust automated surveillance: Cryptos' unique characteristics, such as cross-venue trading, require monitoring systems designed specifically for digital assets.

2. Strengthening AML processes and Travel Rule capabilities: Identity data management, wallet risk assessment and secure information exchange are now mandatory parts of crypto compliance.

3. Ensuring governance, expertise and documentation are audit-ready: Regulators expect clarity around who makes decisions, how alerts are generated and how suspicions are escalated.

4. Connecting market abuse and AML functions: Crypto blurs these lines more than traditional finance. Coordinated teams reduce blind spots.

5. Preparing for proportional but rigorous supervision: Authorities will tailor scrutiny to your size and risk profile, but expect them to look closely.

In case you missed it: earlier this year, Trapets hosted a webinar called MiCA is here - is your company ready for the regulatory shift? featuring Per Friberg, Senior Financial Surveillance Officer, and law firm Harvest.