ESMA’s push for direct control on crypto: less about safety, more about market turf
On 4th December, the European Commission published a proposal that would give direct oversight of significant crypto players to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) over national regulators. This followed a coordinated campaign by France’s Autorité des Marchés Financiers, Italy’s Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa, and Austria’s Financial Market Authority who argue that centralising supervision is about protecting investors and avoiding regulatory arbitrage. Scratch the surface, though, and the proposal looks less like neutral housekeeping and more like a turf war among national regulators — a struggle for market share disguised as a campaign for stability.
At stake is who controls the…
