On 25 August 2026, the European Commission's live page for the MiCA review consultation showed a new closing date of 30 September 2026 at 23:59 CEST. The licensing decision is bigger than the extra month: the Commission is testing whether MiCA's boundaries still fit CASPs, stablecoin issuers and services that sit partly outside the current framework.
LicenceMap's view is that firms should use the extension to document real perimeter problems, but should not treat the consultation as a pause in the rules already in force. A founder choosing an EU base still needs a current authorisation plan. The crypto licensing comparison and e-money licensing comparison remain the starting points while any legislative follow-up is considered.
What does the MiCA review consultation mean for firms?
The Commission opened the review on 20 May 2026 after MiCA had applied in full since 30 December 2024. It says the evidence will inform reports required under Articles 140 and 142 and may support a later legislative proposal. No amendment has been proposed or adopted through this consultation.
There is one important document-control wrinkle. The live consultation page says the deadline has been extended to 30 September, while the attached 45-page paper still says 31 August. Firms preparing a response should follow the current landing page and submit through the official online questionnaire.
The licensing boundaries being tested
For CASPs, the Commission asks whether MiCA's existing list of regulated crypto-asset services gives businesses enough clarity, whether services should be added or removed, and whether additional appropriateness testing should apply to execution, placement and reception or transmission services.
The review also reaches activities that have caused difficult structuring decisions. It asks whether staking should be regulated separately, whether crypto lending and borrowing should be regulated, how to distinguish fully decentralised DeFi from activity with an identifiable intermediary, and whether certification could sit below a full CASP licence for some protocols. NFT services, prediction markets and crypto perpetual futures are also in scope.
The stablecoin section is equally consequential. The paper examines asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, including reserves, redemption, multi-issuer models and the interaction with non-EU regimes. It records that no asset-referenced token had been licensed in the EU after close to two years. That is a useful signal for teams weighing an EMT structure against other stablecoin routes, including through the France crypto licensing page.
Submission priorities before 30 September
A useful response should connect a specific business model to a specific regulatory consequence. Firms should identify the service they provide, the authorisation they believe applies, where classifications or overlapping rules create uncertainty, and what change would preserve customer protection without duplicating controls.
Evidence matters. The Commission asks for data where possible, concrete examples, legal references and qualitative evidence. Teams operating across member states should record whether the same model has received different perimeter answers, while stablecoin businesses should separate issuance, custody, exchange and payment functions rather than treating them as one licence question.
Sources
- European Commission targeted MiCA review consultation, current deadline
- European Commission targeted consultation paper, 20 May 2026
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets
This content is informational only and is not legal advice.