MiCA Focus Shifts to Supervision as MERGE Madrid 2026 Concludes

European crypto regulation is shifting its emphasis from granting authorizations to supervising businesses already operating under the rules, according to remarks reported from MERGE Madrid 2026. The three-day gathering at Madrid’s Palacio de Cibeles brought together representatives from traditional finance, blockchain, investment and regulation, according to a conference announcement dated November 11.

Desislava Petrova, a senior supervision officer at the European Banking Authority, described the changing priorities during a discussion comparing Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA, with the United States’ GENIUS Act. A published account of the event quoted her as saying: “In terms of priorities, we’re shifting from authorization to supervision.”

The distinction places the emphasis on how regulated businesses operate after securing approval, rather than treating licensing as the final compliance milestone. The reported remarks describe a supervisory priority; they do not, by themselves, establish a new legal requirement or announce a change to MiCA.

The conference forms part of MERGE, a platform focused on connecting traditional financial institutions with the crypto, blockchain and Web3 industries in Southern Europe and Latin America. Its mix of financial and regulatory participants provided a setting for examining how digital-asset businesses fit into established financial structures.

MiCA supplies the broader framework for that discussion. The European Commission describes it as covering crypto-assets and associated services and activities that fall outside other European Union financial-services legislation, with common rules intended to support innovation while addressing market risks.

Those rules extend beyond permission to enter the market. The Commission identifies organizational, operational and prudential requirements for issuers and service providers, alongside disclosure obligations intended to help prospective buyers understand the characteristics and risks of crypto-assets. Market integrity and protection against abuse are also central objectives.

The emphasis on continuing oversight is consistent with guidance previously published by the European Securities and Markets Authority. In January 2025, ESMA issued a supervisory briefing designed to align authorization practices across member states and reduce regulatory arbitrage, working with national authorities on expectations for crypto-asset service providers.

That briefing addresses governance, adequate local personnel, limits on outsourcing and the technical knowledge of executive management. Crucially, ESMA said national authorities should apply its principles during authorization and ensure that providers continue adhering to them afterward. This connects the initial assessment of an applicant with the subsequent scrutiny of its operations.

For businesses, the practical significance is that authorization does not end the need to demonstrate effective controls. For institutions evaluating digital-asset activities or commercial partners, the same distinction makes ongoing governance and operational capability relevant alongside regulatory status. These implications follow from the supervisory framework rather than representing separate announcements at the conference.

The next phase will therefore depend on how authorities translate existing obligations into continuing checks and how firms maintain compliance in practice. Petrova’s reported comments frame that transition as a shift in priorities, while ESMA’s published guidance already makes clear that regulatory expectations continue after authorization.