EU banking authority pushes for crypto lending rules in MiCA review
DeFi & Yields ·
The EU's banking regulator has called for new rules governing crypto lending to be folded into an upcoming review of the bloc's MiCA framework, according to a report.
The push would bring crypto lending platforms and the connectors linking them to DeFi protocols under MiCA's regulatory scope, according to a corroborating account of the same effort. That would mark an expansion of the framework, which has so far focused on areas like stablecoin issuance and crypto-asset service providers, into the mechanics of onchain and platform-based credit itself.
Crypto lending covers a range of arrangements, from centralized platforms to decentralized protocols run entirely by smart contracts that hold collateral, set interest rates, and enforce liquidation rules without a bank or broker in the loop. These DeFi systems are generally permissionless, letting anyone with a compatible wallet and sufficient collateral borrow or lend regardless of geography or credit history, a structure that differs sharply from the intermediated lending EU banking rules were originally built around.
The regulatory interest comes as institutional and retail participation in crypto lending has been expanding across multiple channels. Fireblocks has launched a product called Earn that lets institutions generate yield on stablecoins through protocols including Aave and Morpho, while Robinhood has begun rolling out its own Earn feature to eligible US customers, allowing USDG to be lent onchain through a self-custody wallet at an estimated 7% APY, with the lending itself running on Morpho. Jupiter has separately introduced an Earn option tied to its Recurring product, letting USDC held in DCA orders earn yield through Jupiter Lend before each scheduled purchase executes.
Not all recent developments in the space have pointed toward smooth growth: Chaos Labs walked away from a $5 million risk mandate on Aave, citing disagreements over the protocol's V4 architecture and an underfunded risk budget, a dispute that underscores the kind of risk-management questions regulators may be looking to address through formal rules.
What remains unclear is the specific shape any MiCA amendment would take, including which categories of platforms or protocol connectors would be captured and on what timeline. Two distinct sources are currently tracking the story, and further detail on the proposal's scope has not yet emerged.