European regulator releases a second MiCA consultation.

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The regulatory body intends to release its final report, which will be crafted based on the feedback it receives.

Furthermore, it plans to present the draft technical standards to the European Commission by June 2024.

On October 5, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the regulatory authority responsible for overseeing financial markets in the European Union, issued a second consultative document regarding regulations for Crypto-Assets within Markets (MiCA).

This comprehensive 307-page document seeks input from stakeholders in five critical areas of MiCA, including sustainability metrics for distributed ledger technologies, disclosures of confidential information, technical prerequisites for white papers, measures to enhance trade transparency, and requirements for maintaining records for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs).

Among the sustainability metrics, the authority places emphasis on quantifiable measures related to energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and waste generation.

Additionally, it includes a qualitative assessment of the impact of equipment used by blockchain network nodes on natural resources.

Regarding post-trade transparency, ESMA suggests that CASPs should be mandated to report key details such as trading and publication timestamps, identification of the crypto-asset, pricing information, quantity, execution venue, and transaction identification.

ESMA also proposes that CASPs be given the flexibility to store transaction data in a format they deem most suitable. However, they must be capable of converting it into a specified format if requested by regulatory authorities.

The regulatory body’s plan is to release a final report after considering the feedback it receives, and then submit the draft technical standards to the European Commission no later than June 30, 2024.

Prior to this, they intend to publish a third consultation package in the first quarter of 2024.

ESMA had previously issued a consultation paper in July, where it proposed that crypto companies registered under MiCA must still provide additional information through notifications to the national competent authorities of the respective countries in which they are registered.