1 day Ago By Lauren Towner
September 18 2024 Zumo , the B2B digital assets infrastructure, has launched a new out-of-box feature that enables crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) active in the European Union (EU) to comply with the upcoming sustainability requirements of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. MiCA was introduced to implement uniform EU market rules for crypto-assets. Amongst its many requirements is one that has flown under the radar for many CASPs: new sustainability indicator requirements, drafted by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), covering the environmental impact of their offered crypto-assets.
Recent industry research has suggested that more than 80% of CASPs may be unaware of the need to report ESG data from ESMA’s deadline of 30 December. As mandated in MiCA Article 66, CASPs – including exchanges, brokerages, custodians and trading firms – that are active in the EU, or wish to provide their services into the EU, will need to have a compliant website disclosure covering the environmental impact of offered crypto-assets in place from 30 December 2024. Failure to comply will risk a potential fine of at least 5 million euros or 5% of a provider’s total annual turnover.
Zumo’s Oxygen MiCA compliance module helps CASPs to easily access MiCA-compliant sustainability metrics for their listed crypto-assets. The solution draws on best-in-class sustainability data from Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute (CCRI), one of Zumo’s strategic partners , and further builds on Zumo’s Oxygen proposition, first introduced to help providers of crypto-asset services better align their digital asset activities with net zero principles. The new feature will help CASPs across the EU to streamline and simplify their sustainability compliance through auto-generated MiCA website disclosure reports.
Nick Jones, Founder and CEO, Zumo, said: “MiCA’s sustainability requirements are going live to a tight deadline, and bring with them complex data questions as well as potentially hefty fines.” “It’s become clear that CASPs across Europe simply aren’t ready. In response, we’ve taken another important step on our sustainability journey to add the indicators that will enable service providers to comply with current and future sustainability compliance requirements.
With our MiCA solution, CASPs will be able to access a single interface that helps them cut through all the complexity associated with pulling data together, formatting an appropriate template, and providing the output that ESMA is looking for.” Zumo is widely seen as a pioneer for its sustainability work in the digital assets sphere. The company was a member of the World Economic Forum’s Crypto Sustainability Coalition, which explored how blockchain tools can be leveraged to contribute to meaningful progress towards climate action, and recently signed the Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Declaration .
Zumo’s employees also co-founded the Emerging Technologies Sustainability Taskforce (ETST), created to ensure the specific characteristics of emerging technologies, such as blockchain, are encapsulated so the standards used for sustainability across the global digital assets sector are fit for purpose. The addition of the sustainability indicators to the Oxygen product further cements Zumo’s commitment to helping the world’s financial institutions establish a sustainable, compliant digital assets sector. The company’s contribution to climate work has been recognised via a number of prestigious awards programmes, including the Fintech Finance Awards, the City AM Awards, and the Scottish Financial Technology Awards.
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