MiCA - Markets in Crypto-Assets
The EU's comprehensive framework regulating crypto-asset issuers and service providers - stablecoins, utility tokens and the CASP licensing regime - fully applicable since 30 December 2024.
Also known asRegulation (EU) 2023/1114
What MiCA covers
MiCA is the first comprehensive EU framework for crypto-assets that are not financial instruments under MiFID II. It is built on three pillars:
- Issuance rules for asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), e-money tokens (EMTs) and other crypto-assets - whitepaper, disclosures, reserve and governance requirements.
- CASP authorisation - a single EU licensing regime for crypto-asset service providers, with passporting across the Union.
- Market integrity - Title VI extends a MAR-style market-abuse regime to crypto-assets, with mandatory STOR filing.
Timeline
- 30 June 2024 - Stablecoin (ART/EMT) provisions in force.
- 30 December 2024 - Full application, including CASP authorisation.
- Transitional periods - Up to 18 months for member states' grandfathering of legacy VASPs (varies by member state).
Who is in scope
Any natural or legal person providing crypto-asset services to clients in the EU - exchange, custody, execution, advice, transfer, portfolio management, placement - needs a CASP authorisation. Issuers of ARTs/EMTs need separate, stricter approval. NFTs, fully decentralised protocols and crypto-assets already qualifying as financial instruments under MiFID II are outside MiCA's perimeter.
Practical impact
For most non-EU exchanges, MiCA effectively forces a binary choice: build a fully authorised EU subsidiary with the associated capital, governance and surveillance stack - or geo-fence EU customers. The grandfathering windows are closing quickly.