Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) is the first attempt at creating comprehensive regulation for digital assets in the EU.
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Lawmakers in the European Parliament have approved the world’s first comprehensive package of rules aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry.
In a vote Thursday, the EU Parliament voted 517 in favor and 38 against to pass the Markets in Crypto Act, or MiCA. The legislation, which seeks to reduce risks for consumers buying crypto assets, will mean providers can become liable if they lose investors’ crypto-assets.
The rules will impose a number of requirements on crypto platforms, token issuers and traders around transparency, disclosure, authorization, and supervision of transactions, the EU Parliament said in a statement Thursday.
Platforms will be required to inform consumers about the risks associated with their operations, while sales of new tokens will also come under regulation.
Stablecoins like tether and Circle’s USDC will be required to maintain ample reserves to meet redemption requests in the event of mass withdrawals. Stablecoins that become too large also face being limited to 200 million euros ($220 million) in transactions per day.
The European Securities and Markets Authority, or ESMA, will be given powers to step in and ban or restrict crypto platforms if they are seen to not properly protect investors, or threaten market integrity or financial stability.
MiCA also addresses environmental concerns surrounding crypto, with firms forced to disclose their energy consumption as well as the impact of digital assets on the environment.
Mairead McGuinness, European commissioner for financial services, lauded the law’s approval Thursday and said she expects the rules to start applying “from next year.”
Andrew Whitworth, EMEA policy director for blockchain firm Ripple, said the parliamentary blessing marked “an important milestone for the crypto industry around the world.”
“Consistency in implementation around the EU will be key in providing crypto companies with the operational clarity to fuel innovation across Europe and guard against unwitting fragmentation of the Single Market,” Whitworth told CNBC via email.
“As part of this, there is a need to ensure that the legislation is applied proportionally with regards to how different companies’ crypto offerings are treated, based on the risk profiles of their activities.”
A step ahead of the U.S.
Parliament also cleared a separate law which aims to reduce the anonymity involved in transfers of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and stablecoins, voting 529 to 29 to pass the Transfer of Funds regulation.
This applies the so-called “travel rule,” which requires financial companies to screen, record and communicate information on both sender and recipient, to crypto transactions to help combat money laundering.
Transfers between exchanges and so-called “self-hosted wallets” owned by individuals will need to be reported if the amount tops the 1,000-euro threshold, a contentious issue for crypto enthusiasts who often trade digital currencies for privacy reasons.
In a tweet, Changpeng Zhao, CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance, said his company was “ready to make adjustments to our business over the next 12-18 months to be in a position of full compliance.”
Binance is under intense scrutiny from regulators over how it operates. In March, the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission sued Binance, Zhao and Binance’s former chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, alleging the company actively solicited U.S. users without permission.
Zhao hailed MiCA as a “pragmatic solution to the challenges we collectively face.”
Regulators have sought to rein in the crypto market in the wake of numerous catastrophic industry failures. In May, terraUSD, a controversial stablecoin project, unraveled in a $60 billion flameout after investors lost confidence in its technical underpinning.
The demise of terraUSD caused a chain reaction in the industry, with various other firms, including Three Arrows Capital, BlockFi and Voyager Digital going bust as well. FTX, formerly the fourth-largest crypto exchange, filed for bankruptcy in November in the most high-profile crypto industry failure to date.
The move puts the EU a step ahead of the U.S. and U.K., which are yet to bring in formal rules for the crypto space. A U.K. official on Monday said specific crypto regulation could come into force within a year or so.
Once the EU laws come into effect, crypto companies will be able to use their licenses in one European country to “passport” their services across various member states. Crypto companies have been scrambling to obtain licenses from various European authorities and open new offices in anticipation of the law coming into effect.
U.S. crypto companies have been looking abroad for expansion in response to tough regulatory moves in their home turf. The Securities and Exchange Commission issued Coinbase with a Wells notice, which is often one of the final steps before the regulator formally issues charges, last month.
On Thursday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC at a fintech event the company is prepared for a “years-long” legal battle with the SEC.
He said separately in a talk on stage that the U.S. “has the potential to be an important market in crypto” but right now is not delivering regulatory clarity. If this goes on, he said, then Coinbase would consider options of investing more abroad, including relocating from the U.S. to elsewhere.
Sam Altman, chief executive officer of OpenAI Inc., during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025.
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Campus, a college startup backed by Sam Altman, has hired Meta‘s former AI Vice President Jerome Pesenti as its technology head, the company announced Friday.
As part of the deal, Campus will buy Pesenti’s artificial intelligence learning platform Sizzle AI for an undisclosed amount and integrate its personalized AI-generated educational content already used by 1.7 million people.
The acquisition advances the company’s “roadmap” by two to three years and helps the platform cater learning toward individual student needs, said Tade Oyerinde, Campus founder and chancellor.
“This is a game changer,” he told CNBC.
Campus was founded to disrupt the community college system by “maximizing access to world-class education,” according to its website. It offers accredited associate degrees taught by adjunct professors from the likes of Stanford, Princeton and New York University.
The platform has over 3,000 enrolled students, charges $7,320 per academic year and accepts Pell Grants, according to its website. It also provides attendees with a laptop, mobile Wi-Fi pack, personal success coach and 24/7 tutoring access. Professors make upwards of $8,000 per course.
Campus has raised over $100 million from the likes of Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, General Catalyst, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, venture capitalist and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Figma CEO Dylan Field.
Singapore authorities are investigating artificial intelligence computing firm Megaspeed, a customer of American AI chipmaker Nvidia, for allegedly helping Chinese companies evade curbs on U.S. chip exports.
“The Singapore Police Force confirms that investigations are ongoing into Megaspeed for suspected breaches of our domestic laws,” the police told CNBC in an email.
The probe comes as the New York Times reported Thursday that the U.S. Commerce Department was also investigating whether Megaspeed skirted American export controls, citing anonymous officials and other people familiar with the matter.
The twin investigations into Megaspeed could raise questions about Nvidia’s ability to track its chip exports effectively and to comply with U.S. restrictions on the sale of its most advanced AI chips to China.
According to an Nvidia spokesperson, the company had engaged the U.S. government on the matter and performed its own inquiry, without identifying “any reason to believe products have been diverted.”
“NVIDIA visited multiple Megaspeed sites yet again earlier this week and confirmed what we previously observed—Megaspeed is running a small commercial cloud, like many other companies throughout the world, as allowed by U.S. export control rules,” they said in a statement shared with CNBC Friday.
Megaspeed didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the U.S. Commerce Department.
The Times reported that Megaspeed, which spun off from a Chinese gaming company in 2023, bought nearly $2 billion worth of Nvidia’s most advanced products through its subsidiary in Malaysia.
Export loophole concerns
The case surrounding Megaspeed highlights broader concerns about the effectiveness of U.S. export restrictions on advanced technologies, such as Nvidia’s AI processors.
The U.S. government has, for years, restricted sales of advanced AI chips to China, citing concerns they could strengthen Beijing’s military and give it an edge in broader AI development, among others.
But experts and lawmakers in Washington have long warned about loopholes in Washington’s export controls, while reports indicate that a massive black market for smuggled Nvidia chips has also emerged.
The House Select Committee on China in April questioned Nvidia’s shipment of chips to China and Southeast Asia after reports that Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek used the company’s chips to train a groundbreaking AI model.
Just a few months prior, Singapore had launched a separate probe into the alleged smuggling of restricted Nvidia chips, which were declared bound for Malaysia but may have been diverted elsewhere, including China.
In response to such cases and mounting U.S. pressure, Malaysia announced in July that it would begin requiring permits for all exports and transfers of Nvidia chips.
Outsourcing to Southeast Asia?
Chinese companies have also exploited a legal gray area by tapping into computing power from data centers in Southeast Asia equipped with restricted Nvidia chips, according to recent reports.
For example, Megaspeed was using its Nvidia chips for data centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, which appeared to be remotely serving customers in China, according to the Times.
Nvidia didn’t directly address this claim, but said in its statement that the Trump administration’s recent AI Action plan “rightfully encourages businesses worldwide to embrace U.S. standards and U.S. leadership, benefiting national and economic security.”
The Trump administration has recently signaled interest in ensuring Nvidia maintains its global market dominance — even in China — though its AI Action plan also called for strengthening enforcement of export controls globally.
Lawmakers in Washington have also proposed bills that could see Nvidia required to outfit its chips with tracking systems.
Such proposals have received pushback from Beijing, which froze imports of Nvidia’s chips after the Trump administration said it would roll back restrictions on some of the firm’s chips made specifically for China.
Microchip and Qualcomm logo displayed on a phone screen are seen in this multiple exposure illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on April 10, 2023.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Qualcomm shares fell on Friday after Chinese regulators said it would investigate the American tech giant’s acquisition of chip firm Autotalks, ramping up tensions between the U.S. and China ahead of key meetings between the country’s leaders this month.
Shares were last around 3% lower in premarket trading.
China’s State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) said that Qualcomm is suspected of violating the country’s anti-monopoly law in regards to its acquisition of Israeli firm Autotalks. The acquisition officially closed in June, just over two years after it was first announced.
In a short statement, the SAMR said it would initiate an investigation into Qualcomm.
Qualcomm was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. The company sells its smartphone chips to some of the biggest players in China such as Xiaomi.
U.S. tech companies have recently been in the crosshairs of Chinese regulators ramping up tensions between Beijing and Washington ahead of key talks.
This week, China also tightened export controls on rare earths and related technologies. Rare earths are critical to high-tech industries, including automobiles, defense and semiconductors.
U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are expected to meet in person on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum during the last week of October in Gyeongju, South Korea.