The Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) of the European Union, one of the three regulatory bodies overseeing the region’s financial sector, has released its third consultation package outlining regulatory measures for cryptocurrencies under the Markets in Crypto Asset (MiCA) framework.
In its proposed guidelines, the ESMA has suggested that miner-extractable value (MEV), an arbitrage strategy that involves rearranging transactions within a block to maximize profit for validators and third-party builders, should be considered a form of market abuse under existing MiCA rules.
According to Section 19 of the ESMA’s paper, MiCA acknowledges that certain aspects of distributed ledger technology, such as orders, transactions, and other related factors, may indicate the presence of market abuse, including the well-known Maximum Extractable Value (MEV). This refers to the ability of a miner or validator to reorder transactions and front-run specific transactions to make a profit.
Patrick Hansen, senior director of EU strategy and policy at Circle, expressed criticism of ESMA’s policy suggestions, highlighting the tedious and unrealistic process of complying with the proposed regulations. Hansen stated that nearly all regulated crypto businesses in the EU, including exchanges and brokers, would need to identify and report instances of MEV through complex “suspicious transaction or order reports” (STORs). He further noted that the ESMA STOR template alone spans six pages.
Hansen urged all parties involved in MEV practices to provide input on ESMA’s proposed regulatory overhaul before the June 25 deadline.
MEV remains a challenge in decentralized finance, with network developers and industry leaders proposing various solutions to address the issue. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently outlined a multi-faceted approach to combat Ethereum’s MEV problem, which includes implementing MEV quarantine strategies, minimizing MEV, using inclusion lists, and lowering node hardware requirements. Buterin emphasized the need to mitigate MEV rather than imposing a complete ban on the practice, allowing protocols like Cowswap to operate while safeguarding users from the hidden costs of MEV.