Juan Ignacio Ibanez: 'Every crypto needs a passport'

Before he began shaping crypto regulation in Europe, Juan Ibanez was working on carbon offsets in Germany. His entry into digital assets didn’t start with Bitcoin – but with tracing sustainable payments. Now, as General Secretary of the MiCA Crypto Alliance and Chief of Staff at the DLT Science Foundation, he’s helping design one of the world’s most ambitious frameworks for crypto: MiCA.

The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, passed by the European Union in 2023, marks a major shift in how digital assets are managed, tracked, and licensed. Full implementation is underway through 2024 and 2025. Unlike the fragmented rules seen in countries like the U.S., MiCA offers a unified model – and may serve as a blueprint for global policy.

“MiCA is much more than just a licensing regime,” he told The Crypto Radio. “Sometimes you cannot go back, you either build it in a compliant way from the beginning or you don't at all.”

From sustainability to crypto compliance

Ibanez’s journey into crypto began with his sustainability work. While at a German NGO, he collaborated with University College London on blockchain tools for transparency in climate finance. “We were working on using blockchain for sustainability, specifically for carbon offsets and tracing payments,” he said.

That early work pulled him deep into the mechanics of blockchain. “I got very nerdy and very obsessed about things,” he said. Over time, he developed what he calls “a mental map of this overwhelming world,” a framework that still shapes how he approaches regulation today.

Rather than being drawn to speculation, Ibanez focused on blockchain’s potential to improve accountability. “We need to understand the technology that you're regulating to begin with,” he said.

He also reflected, “Sometimes you buy into a narrative, you start seeing stories everywhere,” hinting at how complex and noisy the crypto space can feel from the inside.

What makes MiCA different?

MiCA demands full transparency from token issuers and crypto platforms, requiring detailed whitepapers, operational disclosures, and sustainability reporting.

Each cryptocurrency, whether stablecoin or memecoin, must publish a formal white paper outlining who created it, what it does, how it’s funded, and its environmental impact. “If you want to launch a memecoin in the EU, you actually need a legal team to write a MiCA whitepaper,” he said, with a smile.

“We wrote a MiCA compliant whitepaper for Bitcoin ourselves,” he said, offering a practical demonstration of the framework.

For Ibanez, this isn’t just about ticking boxes. “We're not just trying to comply, we're trying to contribute to an open-source movement,” he said. “The regulator asks us for metrics on energy consumption. 'Well, I'll give you 10 more metrics than that'.”

Compliance, consolidation, and competition

MiCA Crypto Alliance's Juan Ibanez talks to The Crypto Radio's Aya de Quiroz about Europe and regulation

While major exchanges may have the resources to adapt, smaller startups could struggle. “This is going to lead to some consolidation,” he said, “and perhaps not the intense competition we would like to see.”

Ibanez is determined to ensure the framework doesn’t stifle innovation. “We want to prevent MiCA from becoming a hypertrophic, bureaucratic, high compliance cost regime,” he said.

Through the MiCA Crypto Alliance, he works to connect legal experts, developers, and entrepreneurs across Europe, providing resources to help projects navigate regulation. “We're trying to step up, be adults in the room and show how mature and powerful this industry is,” he said.

That maturity, he suggests, includes confronting the reality that decentralization still involves key teams – and understanding how MiCA will hold them accountable. “There's always a team taking a large chunk of the work in relation to a DEX,” he said.

Building a credible and sustainable crypto industry

One of the most debated aspects of MiCA is its environmental focus. Ibanez challenges the stereotype that crypto is inherently wasteful. “The majority of blockchain systems don't consume a lot of energy,” he said.

In fact, he believes digital assets could even help the planet. “The carbon footprint may end up being negative, and that's the exciting part,” he said.

Ibanez also sees MiCA’s potential beyond Europe. “I'm seeing a lot of potential to influence things in the right direction,” he said, noting that regulators worldwide are watching how the EU’s experiment unfolds.

“We are not an industry of cowboys and criminals,” he said. “We are decentralized, but we are maturing.”

For Ibanez, MiCA represents more than compliance – it’s about setting a foundation for the future. “We're not just meeting requirements; we're setting new standards,” he said.

Looking ahead, he hopes MiCA will inspire responsible innovation globally. For Ibanez, it’s the hard work behind the headlines – building credible, accountable systems – that matters most.