France Wants Crypto Exchanges Liable for DeFi Incidents Under MiCA Revamp

France’s Treasury, Financial Markets Authority, central bank and Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority have jointly proposed changes to the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation. They say crypto service providers should be liable for certain client incidents when they actively facilitated access to a DeFi protocol. MiCA currently excludes fully decentralized services, so the plan would add new duties for regulated platforms that connect customers to DeFi. The European Commission will use the responses in a report to EU lawmakers due by June 30, 2027.

Vetting and Monitoring Rules for DeFi Access

French authorities want platforms to vet DeFi protocols before offering access and then monitor them for vulnerabilities and suspicious activity. They also back certification of protocols and smart contracts. The rules would apply fully to significant providers, with lighter duties for smaller ones. Platforms could still link users to uncertified protocols if they do their own due diligence and give enhanced risk disclosures.

Stance on Self-Custody Wallets

The authorities oppose blanket certification for developers of non-custodial wallets and prefer voluntary certification for advanced wallets that integrate DeFi services.

Wider MiCA Changes on the Table

France backed shifting supervision of significant providers to ESMA and proposed lowering the current 15 million daily active user threshold, while also weighing custody assets, business risks and group complexity. On stablecoins, it called for a review of the asset-referenced token category, since none have been authorized, and proposed adapting the e-money token framework to cover multicurrency stablecoins.