Bitpanda Co-CEO: MiCA Boosts European Crypto User Trust in Regulated Platforms

European crypto users are placing significantly more trust in regulated platforms following the implementation of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework (MiCA), according to Christian Trummer, co-CEO of Austria-based crypto exchange Bitpanda. Speaking on Cointelegraph's Chain Reaction podcast, Trummer said most users have "more faith" in regulated market participants since the rollout of MiCA, contrasting this trend with what he described as a "Crypto Twitter" bubble focused on self-custody and private key management. He emphasized that the average user prefers regulated providers over managing their own assets.

Trummer also called for stricter enforcement of MiCA, warning that some companies continue to serve European customers without complying with the framework, putting compliant firms at a competitive disadvantage. "The problem there definitely is that it's not strictly enforced by the regulators, because there are still other players on the market which offer the service to European customers and they don't comply to the MiCA license," Trummer said. This concern is shared by European regulators, with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) directing national regulators to take action against unauthorized firms that continued providing crypto services after MiCA's grandfathering period for existing providers ended on July 1.

ESMA has since called for stronger supervisory powers to address unauthorized crypto services and third-country firms soliciting EU investors without MiCA authorization. The regulatory landscape across Europe continues to evolve, with Circle recently urging the EU to revise stablecoin reserve rules under the MiCA review, South Korea advancing tokenized securities rules ahead of a 2027 rollout, and the U.S. SEC moving to clear custody hurdles for investment advisers offering crypto services. These developments underscore the growing global emphasis on establishing clear regulatory frameworks for the crypto industry.