The EU plans to give ESMA greater powers to comprehensively regulate cryptocurrencies and stock markets

 according to market sources, the European Commission is brewing a comprehensive reform, planning to give the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) direct regulatory authority over stock exchanges, cryptocurrency companies, and clearinghouses. ESMA Chairman Verena Ross stated that this move aims to address the long-standing decentralization issues in the EU financial markets and create more integrated and globally competitive capital markets. Currently, the regulatory authority of Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASP) is mainly enforced by member states under the MiCA framework, but ESMA believes that this decentralized regulation is inefficient and weakens consumer protection. However, the proposal has been opposed by small countries such as Luxembourg and Malta, who warn that centralization of power may harm the local financial industry.