EU Opens Consultation on 2027 MiCA Revision, Targeting Non-EU Issuers and Stablecoins

The European Commission has opened a targeted consultation on reviewing its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the first formal step toward a planned 2027 revision of the world's first comprehensive crypto rulebook. The consultation names three priorities: oversight of non-EU crypto issuers, stablecoin payment flows and tokenized payments — signaling the bloc sees gaps worth closing rather than a wholesale rewrite.

Where the Gaps Are

Non-EU issuers are the headline focus: the consultation asks who can access the EU market and under what conditions, a question sharpened by the rapid growth of offshore stablecoin issuance. Stablecoins are treated as a separate workstream because their use in payments and settlement carries different risks from volatile crypto assets, and tokenized payments — value moved over blockchain rails rather than traditional payment systems — are pulled in explicitly, reflecting how stablecoins have become the main instrument in tokenized payment flows.

The review lands against a fast-moving market: global stablecoin transaction volumes surpassed $33 trillion in 2025, and the US GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, standardized what a compliant payment stablecoin looks like across the Atlantic. Circle's USDC has grown to roughly $72 billion in circulating supply — up about $8 billion over the past year — while Tether's USDT remains the larger issuer at well over $180 billion, together controlling roughly 80 percent of the approximately $325 billion stablecoin market, industry data cited by AInvest shows.

What Comes Next

Legal analysts at Skadden frame the review as an effort to keep MiCA fit for purpose as the market evolves; the EBA has already issued a no-action letter on how EU payment services rules interact with MiCA. For firms weighing EU exposure, the watchpoints before 2027 are how the final scope defines non-EU issuers and how tightly stablecoin and payment obligations are drawn — decisions that will determine whether Europe remains the most permissive regulated market for stablecoin infrastructure or tightens its moat around EU-licensed players.