EU Eyes Broader Crypto Regulation to Cover DeFi, Staking, Lending, and NFTs

The European Union is considering expanding its crypto framework to cover decentralized finance (DeFi), staking, lending, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

A report prepared by Belgian MEP Johan Van Overtveldt invites the Commission to study these activities, which are currently partially or indirectly covered by the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.

The MiCA framework mainly regulates crypto asset issuers and centralized providers. However, DeFi poses a different problem as protocols operate with smart contracts, distributed governance, and no clearly identifiable company.

European regulators are interested in determining who holds legal responsibility for these activities, including developers, web interfaces, governance token holders, or decentralized autonomous organizations.