- ESMA published its 2027 Annual Work Programme on 28 September, listing digital operational resilience, EU corporate substance, outsourcing, liquidity, reverse solicitation and asset classification as its crypto convergence priorities.
- Chair Verena Ross told the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee the same day that MiCA’s focus has moved from rulemaking towards supervision and supervisory convergence.
- The first phase of MIDAS, ESMA’s crypto market surveillance system, is due to be fully operational in 2027, with a second phase awaiting Board approval.
Europe’s markets regulator will spend 2027 pushing national supervisors toward one standard for crypto firms, under a work programme published on Monday.
The European Securities and Markets Authority’s 2027 Annual Work Programme lists crypto-asset service providers’ digital operational resilience first among the areas for its convergence work.
The maintenance of sufficient corporate substance in the EU and outsourcing risks follow. Liquidity in the EU crypto market, reverse solicitation and the classification of assets round out the list.
Chair Verena Ross gave her annual account to the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee the same day, her last before her term ends on 31 October. She told MEPs the past year had marked important progress on crypto-assets.
Following the entry into application of MiCA, the focus has moved from rulemaking towards supervision and supervisory convergence.
Verena Ross, ESMA Chair Read more: BlackRock Says AI Agents Could Accelerate Digital Asset Adoption
ESMA does not license crypto firms itself. That licensing sits with national authorities in the 27 member states. ESMA intends to harmonise the periodic reports providers file with those authorities and to share risk indicators and dashboards among them. It will also monitor how the recommendations from its 2025 fast-track peer review on CASP authorisation and supervision are put into practice. ESMA will keep working with AMLA on providers’ anti-money-laundering compliance and with the EBA and EIOPA on asset classification opinions.
A common supervisory action on the digital operational resilience of providers’ custody services, launched in mid-2026, is due to produce a final report in 2027.
The Commission’s proposal to move large cross-border crypto firms under ESMA’s direct supervision is still before the co-legislators, with final agreement expected in 2027, ESMA said. Ross told the committee the discussion on that package is important.
Surveillance System and the 2027 Review
MIDAS, ESMA’s centralised system for market surveillance of crypto assets, will be fully operational in its first phase by 2027. A second phase would add analytical features and expand the data available, subject to Board approval, with roll-out due in the fourth quarter. The system supports national authorities’ monitoring of market abuse.
The European Commission is expected to report on the application of MiCA by June 2027. ESMA said it will share its supervisory experience for that report and start preparatory work on any legislative proposal that accompanies it.
MiCA’s transitional period for existing providers ended across the EU on 1 July. In June, about 210 of more than 1,200 providers held full authorisation on ESMA’s figures. A separate transition for trading-platform operators to draw up crypto-asset white papers runs until 31 December 2027.
“We want innovation to flourish within a framework that provides clarity for firms, safeguards for investors and confidence for the market”, Ross told the committee.
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