You’re reading Crypto for Advisors, CoinDesk’s weekly newsletter that unpacks digital assets for financial advisors.
Happy Thursday, advisors!
In today’s newsletter, Maria Golenkov explains how the EU’s MiCA framework is the blueprint for future U.S crypto regulation. Learn why your governance and controls need to align now to avoid scrambling later.
MiCA’s final deadline just hit in Europe. U.S. advisors should be taking notes.
Right now, America's crypto regulatory landscape is fragmented across multiple agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulates one thing, the (CFTC) another, FinCEN handles its piece, and then you have state-level requirements on top. No master playbook. No unified vision. The European Union, meanwhile, finished writing theirs in 2023, implemented it through 2024 and has been enforcing it since.
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, is now the standard everyone in Europe has to meet. And as of July 1, 2026, the grace period is over. The transitional window that let firms keep operating under old national rules expired with no extensions.
This matters because Europe always moves first on financial regulation, and America follows. It's happening now, and most advisors aren't paying attention yet.
So what does MiCA require? If you offer crypto services like custody, advisory or exchange, you need a license and a regulator watching what you do. Client assets get segregated, independently audited and monitored in real time. Capital and transparency requirements apply.
If you manage digital assets for clients, governance frameworks aren't something you build, hand off to compliance and forget about. They're your fiduciary baseline.
- Maria Golenkov, partner and head of digital assets, governance, risk & controls, DLA LLC
