The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published its 2027 work program, shifting its MiCA agenda "from rulemaking towards supervision and convergence," ESMA Chair Verena Ross said Monday.

The document sets out how ESMA will coordinate national supervisors overseeing crypto asset service providers (CASPs) as implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation deepens across the bloc.

"We want innovation to flourish within a framework that provides clarity for firms, safeguards for investors and confidence in the markets," Ross told the European Parliament's Committee on Economic Monetary Affairs.

What are ESMA's 2027 supervisory priorities?

The work program identifies five core areas for CASP supervision:

• Operational resilience
• Outsourcing risks
• Liquidity
• Reverse solicitation
• Asset classification

The reverse solicitation focus carries direct consequences for non-EU firms serving European clients without a CASP license. Closer scrutiny of the practice signals tighter enforcement of MiCA's passporting regime, which lets licensed providers operate across all member states.

The asset classification priority also matters operationally. Where a token falls between MiCA's categories and existing financial services law determines which rulebook applies, and divergent national interpretations have been a persistent friction point since the regulation took full effect.

How will ESMA harmonize national supervision?

Beyond thematic priorities, ESMA plans to harmonize CASPs' periodic reporting to national regulators and promote common risk indicators and supervisory dashboards. The goal is convergence: preventing forum shopping between member states and reducing the compliance asymmetries that have emerged as 27 national authorities apply the same rulebook.

The regulator also plans to advance MIDAS, its centralized crypto-market surveillance system for monitoring potential market abuse under MiCA. The system's first phase should become fully operational in 2027.

ESMA disclosed plans for a second phase in February. Monday's work program said the phase would add analytical features and expand the types of data available, with rollout scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2027 subject to board approval. MIDAS will give EU supervisors a single window onto trading across venues, replacing fragmented national monitoring arrangements.

What comes after supervision?

ESMA intends to feed its accumulated supervisory experience into the European Commission's MiCA review, expected by June 2027, and to prepare for any legislative proposal that may follow. That review is the first formal opportunity to amend the regulation since its application and is likely to address unresolved questions around asset classification and third-country firms' access to EU markets.

The work program also arrives amid parallel pressure on MiCA's stablecoin provisions, with the European Central Bank and EU central banks seeking changes to the regulation's minimum bank deposit requirements for stablecoin issuers.

For CASPs, the message is that the licensing window is closing as a supervisory phase opens. Firms operating in the bloc face standardized reporting, common risk indicators and a centralized surveillance system by 2027, with the Commission's June 2027 review the next fixed point that could reshape the framework itself.