According to reports from Golden Finance and Ledger Insights, the German Parliament (Bundestag) passed the Financial Market Digitalization Act (Finanzmarktdigitalisierungsgesetz or FinmadiG) this week. The parliament responded to industry demands, ensuring that legislation was in place before MiCAR fully takes effect on December 30. FinmadiG not only pertains to cryptocurrencies and MiCAR but also impacts other EU laws, such as DORA and the Funds Transfer Regulation. For MiCAR, it introduces the Cryptocurrency Market Regulatory Act (KMAG), which replaces Germany's old cryptocurrency rules with MiCAR. Technically, MiCAR is a regulation, so no local law is needed. However, legislation must designate BaFin as the regulatory authority; otherwise, BaFin cannot issue licenses. This will allow EU companies with cryptocurrency licenses from other countries to operate in Germany, but German companies will not be able to operate in the EU. Additionally, MiCAR allows companies with existing licenses to continue operating for up to 18 months, with the transition period determined by each jurisdiction. The new German legislation stipulates one year.
