EU consults on bringing DeFi, prediction markets, and crypto perps under MiCA

The European Commission is seeking industry feedback on whether to extend its Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation to cover decentralised finance, non-fungible tokens, staking, lending, prediction markets, and tokenized deposits which are currently outside MiCA’s scope.

While MiCA currently exempts fully decentralized services from regulation, policymakers are increasingly concerned that the rapid growth of DeFi has outpaced the assumptions underlying that exemption. A key obstacle is the lack of consensus on how to define decentralization and identify protocols that genuinely operate without centralized control.

Regulators are weighing how to determine whether the protocols are truly decentralized and whether crypto firms should only connect users to certified or vetted DeFi applications. The consultation, open through August 31, 2026, further explores certification schemes for DeFi protocols, smart contracts, and non-custodial wallet providers.

Policymakers are also revisiting longstanding regulatory gaps around crypto lending, borrowing, NFTs, prediction markets, and perpetual futures, including whether some activities should fall under MiCA or the stricter MiFID framework.

On tokenized deposits, regulators are assessing a broad set of use cases ranging from cross-border payments to atomic securities settlement, and whether the existing banking framework adequately covers them.