EU Reaffirms Commitment to Regulating Crypto Derivatives as High-Risk Financial Products

The European Union's regulatory body for financial markets has issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to treating crypto derivatives under the same framework as traditional high-risk financial products.

This means that firms offering leveraged crypto products to EU retail investors must comply with existing CFD intervention rules and broader MiFID II investor-protection obligations.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has emphasized that regulatory treatment depends on a product's economic characteristics, not its name or branding. As such, calling a product a 'perpetual future' or 'perpetual contract' does not exempt it from EU financial regulation if its structure and risk profile align with CFDs.