France's financial authorities have laid out an ambitious wish list for the European Commission's review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, calling for tighter rules on influencers, automated detection of unlicensed platforms, stricter stablecoin controls and a far larger supervisory role for ESMA.
The joint response, submitted by the Direction générale du Trésor, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), the Banque de France and the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), runs to 73 pages in English. It was published alongside a press release dated 8 October and formally submitted to the Commission's consultation on 21 October.
The document frames the problem less as a gap in MiCA's rulebook than as a failure to enforce it. 'The most serious concerns relate to the enforcement of rules rather than the drafting of obligations,' the authorities write. 'Third-country offers directed at EU investors, often relayed by influencers, escape the white paper regime and the liability under Article 15. The answer lies in detection tools, such as automated online data collection, and in the regulation of influencers, not in a relaxation of obligations.' They add that national notification of European offers 'produces different qualifications and controls' and 'opens the door to forum shopping between member states, which justifies centralization at the ESMA level.'
On influencers, the French authorities want an EU-wide ban on promoting unregistered or unlicensed crypto actors, extending principles already enshrined in French law since 9 June 2023 to the entire bloc.
Stablecoins in the crosshairs
The submission takes direct aim at non-compliant stablecoins, proposing that MiCA-licensed providers be barred from offering tokens that do not meet the regulation's standards — a measure that would affect Tether's USDT, still widely traded on platforms operating in the EU. Alongside this, the authorities want Brussels to encourage euro-denominated stablecoins and tokenised bank deposits as alternatives, and to study scrapping the asset-referenced token (ART) category altogether, folding multi-currency stablecoins into the e-money token classification instead. They also call for tighter rules on tokens issued both inside and outside the EU, with firmer guarantees on reserves and redemption rights.
A bigger role for ESMA
The response pushes for ESMA to take direct supervisory responsibility for 'significant' providers and crypto conglomerates, and to become the single window for token offer filings across the bloc, replacing the current patchwork of national regimes. Today, ESMA's direct supervisory threshold kicks in only for providers with more than 15 million active daily users.
On decentralised finance, the authorities call for clearer liability rules and due diligence obligations for intermediaries, warning that responsibilities must be 'clearly attributed' and protocols subject to 'certification.' They also want Brussels to clarify the regulatory status of staking, lending and borrowing activities, areas MiCA currently leaves largely untouched.
The AMF has separately pledged to blacklist and prosecute unlicensed exchanges still targeting French users, following the end of the PSAN transitional registration period on 30 June. Authorities say this is part of a broader effort to 'coordinate the fight against unauthorized providers.'
Any resulting changes to MiCA would still require approval from the European Parliament and the Council of the EU. The Commission is expected to report on the regulation's revision by 2027, a timeline that places the process close to France's own presidential election in April of that year.
