Cardano Foundation Opposes Standalone EU DeFi Rules

The Cardano Foundation has urged the European Commission not to create standalone European Union rules for decentralized finance and staking, arguing that crypto activities should be regulated according to their functions, risks and control over customer assets rather than the technology involved. The Foundation submitted its response to the Commission’s review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, on September 30, 2026. Its recommendations address how the EU should apply existing financial rules to public, permissionless blockchain networks and services built around them. The Commission’s eventual response to the consultation has not been established. A central distinction in the submission is between people who participate directly in a decentralized network and intermediaries that provide managed financial services. The Foundation argues that regulation should focus on identifiable parties performing regulated activities or exercising meaningful control over customers’ assets and transactions. It also says that access to a decentralized network or general-purpose blockchain infrastructure should not, by itself, constitute a financial service. The Foundation...