The European Union's (EU) Economic and Financial Affairs Council, which includes member states' finance ministers,has approvedthe region's long-awaited crypto regulations, the Markets in Crypto Assets
(MiCA), with a vote.
The move has made the MiCA one step closer to becoming a law.
The bill was voted in favor by the finance ministers of 27 member states.
The MiCA must be published in the Official Journal of the European Union to become an EU law.
The legislation is expected to enter into force within a year, making the regulations a law in mid-2024.
Since some aspects of the regulation regarding the crypto asset service providers will come into effect as of January 2025, the firms will still have one to two years to comply with the new rules.
The MiCA;was finally approved;by the lawmakers at the European Parliament (EP), the legislative body of the EU, with a final vote on April 20 after three years of development.
The approval marked the first attempt of the European governments to regulate the crypto industry on such a scale.
