Stablecoin (ART & EMT)
A crypto-asset designed to maintain stable value relative to a fiat currency, basket or other reference - split under MiCA into asset-referenced tokens (ART) and e-money tokens (EMT).
Also known asARTEMTStable token
MiCA classification
MiCA splits stablecoins into two distinct regimes:
- E-Money Token (EMT) - referenced to a single fiat currency. Issuer must be authorised as a credit or electronic-money institution; the EMD2 e-money regime applies in parallel.
- Asset-Referenced Token (ART) - referenced to a basket of currencies, commodities or crypto-assets. Stricter MiCA-specific regime with reserve, governance and own-funds requirements.
Significant token thresholds
ARTs/EMTs exceeding significance thresholds (number of holders, value, transaction volume) become "significant" and fall under direct EBA supervision rather than national competent authority oversight. The biggest USD-stablecoins have signalled intent to either become EMTs or geo-fence the EU.
Risks for compliance teams
- Reserve transparency - composition, segregation, audit cadence.
- Redemption rights - par-value redemption guarantees in MiCA.
- Concentration risk - single-issuer dependencies in stablecoin payment rails.
- Sanctions exposure - token-level freezing capability and OFAC alignment.