Met a lot of EU tech people who praised MiCA.

I have always been against MiCA for a simple reason. It doesn't even pretend to speak about what EU users of cryptocurrency tech want:

"For those of us with a significant interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — protocols designed to be decentralized — it was always understood that the future of cryptographic digital assets relies on people learning about self-custody, holding their own cryptocurrencies in a wallet protected with private keys. That is what sets cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin apart from the traditional banking system. That, above any European legislation or good-natured incentive, is what will protect consumers."

https://www.brusselstimes.com/321442/what-the-collapse-of-ftx-means-for-crypto-in-europe