Britain breaks with Brussels on crypto, and Europe's rulebook is fracturing
The UK's regulator has finalised rules to court crypto firms just as the EU's MiCA regime tightens — opening a gap that is already pushing companies to rethink where in Europe they belong.
AfroEuropa Newsroom
Automated Desk
Europe's once-converging approach to crypto is splitting in two. Britain's Financial Conduct Authority has finalised what Decrypt described as a landmark set of rules designed to turn the UK into a "global hub" for digital assets — even as the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, MiCA, moves into a stricter enforcement phase across the bloc.
The result is a widening regulatory gap on a single continent, and companies are already responding to it.
A widening split
For years, crypto firms treated "Europe" as a single regulatory destination to be won. That assumption is breaking down. With MiCA's compliance deadlines now biting, CoinDesk reports that some companies are reassessing their European footprint entirely — with Dubai positioned to absorb an influx of firms looking for a lighter-touch base. Meanwhile, the European Securities and Markets Authority has issued a warning that has put Binance's planned changes to its EU services under fresh scrutiny, according to Cointelegraph.
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