The European Banking Authority published two Opinions responding to the European Commission’s proposed amendments to draft regulatory technical standards under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on the composition of the reserve of assets and related liquidity requirements. The EBA concludes that the Commission’s substantive changes are not consistent with MiCA’s prudential framework for asset-referenced and e-money tokens. The amendments could be interpreted as permitting investment of issuance proceeds in non-highly liquid financial instruments, including commodities or crypto-assets, classifying all money market funds as highly liquid financial instruments while relaxing concentration and look-through limits, and removing concentration rules for undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities. While supporting drafting clarifications, the EBA considers these changes inconsistent with MiCA Articles 36(1)(b) and 38(1) because they would introduce material liquidity risk in the reserve, weaken alignment with the banking liquidity framework, and open scope for regulatory arbitrage. The opinions constitute the EBA’s response under Article 10(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, following the EBA’s submission of its final draft RTS on 13 June 2024 and the Commission’s 28 August 2025 notification of its intention to endorse them with amendments.

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