What is MiCA regulation?

MiCA regulates crypto-assets in Europe that no other EU financial law covers. It does not apply to crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments, deposits or funds (Article 2(4)). A crypto-asset is "a digital representation of a value or of a right" that is transferred and stored with distributed ledger technology (Article 3(1)(5)). A tokenized share or bond that counts as a financial instrument stays under MiFID II, so the line between MiCA and MiFID follows the legal type of the token.

A summary of the EU regulation, title by title:

MiCA lets banks and asset managers offer crypto services with their existing license. Article 59(1)(b) names credit institutions, central securities depositories, investment firms, market operators, e-money institutions, UCITS management companies and managers of alternative investment funds. They provide crypto-asset services under Article 60, after a notification to their home supervisor. A credit institution files it at least 40 working days before the first service.

Every other firm needs a MiCA license: the authorization as crypto-asset service provider (CASP) under Articles 59 and 63. A CASP is a firm whose business is one or more of ten services, from custody and trading platforms to advice, portfolio management and transfer services (Article 3(1)(16)).

MiCA sorts stablecoins into two types. An e-money token references "the value of one official currency", such as the euro (Article 3(1)(7)). An asset-referenced token references another value or right, or a basket, including several currencies (Article 3(1)(6)).

Only a credit institution or an electronic money institution may offer an e-money token to the public in the EU (Article 48). An issuer of asset-referenced tokens needs its own authorization under Article 21 unless it is a credit institution (Article 16). These EU MiCA rules for stablecoins apply since June 30, 2024, six months before the rest of the regulation.

The transitional period let crypto firms that worked under national law before December 30, 2024 continue until July 1, 2026, or until their authorization was granted or refused (Article 143(3)). Each Member State could shorten the period or not apply it, if its national rules were less strict than MiCA, and had to notify its choice by June 30, 2024.

According to the ESMA list of grandfathering periods (version of May 19, 2026), Germany and Austria both chose 12 months. Other states chose between 6 and 18 months. On June 23, 2026 the FMA reported that providers without authorization must stop taking on new clients and wind down their business by the end of the period.

In Germany the Kryptomärkteaufsichtsgesetz (KMAG) supplements MiCA and makes BaFin the competent authority (§ 3). Section 50 KMAG holds the German transitional rule under Article 143. So MiCA works in Germany through two texts: the EU regulation sets the duties, the KMAG sets the powers of BaFin. BaFin, the MiCA supervisor for Germany, has its offices in Bonn and Frankfurt am Main. In Austria the MiCA-Verordnung-Vollzugsgesetz (MiCA-VVG, BGBl. I Nr. 111/2024) names the FMA as competent authority (§ 1).

Switzerland is outside the EU, so MiCA does not apply there. FINMA lists its own practice on crypto services, including guidelines on licensing as a DLT trading facility and Guidance 06/2024 on stablecoins. This page gives no legal advice.