France's financial authorities propose extending MiCA to require crypto exchanges to vet and monitor DeFi protocols, with platform liability for certain client incidents.
Regulation & Gov ·
France's financial authorities—the Treasury, AMF, Banque de France, and ACPR—have submitted a joint proposal to the European Commission calling for MiCA to address decentralized finance by routing oversight through regulated cryptocurrency platforms. The proposal asks that such platforms assess protocols for genuine decentralization, audit their smart contracts, flag known vulnerabilities, and ultimately bear liability for client losses in certain circumstances, particularly where they failed to conduct adequate due diligence or overlooked documented risks.
The framework centers on platform gatekeeping rather than direct regulation of protocols themselves. Before granting users access, exchanges would evaluate governance structures, liquidity arrangements, oracle dependencies, bridge connections, and fund-source transparency using blockchain analysis. The authorities also support an independent certification scheme for protocols and smart contracts—valid for three years and recorded onchain—though a missing certificate would not automatically block access if a platform conducts its own assessment and discloses risks to clients. Certification would apply only to fully decentralized protocols above a significance threshold.
The submission remains a response to a Commission consultation and does not constitute binding law; any MiCA amendments would require European Union legislative action. The authorities specifically noted that responsibility for assets held in protocols requires further clarification, and they argued that non-custodial wallet developers need not face certification mandates at present. Fully decentralized services currently sit outside MiCA's scope entirely.