MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation)
The European Union's single rulebook for digital assets, covering token issuers, stablecoins, and service providers across all member states.
MiCA was adopted in 2023 and applied in stages, with the stablecoin chapters taking effect first and the service-provider regime following. It sorts tokens into asset-referenced tokens, electronic money tokens, and other crypto-assets, and requires issuers to publish a white paper with prescribed disclosures. Service providers, called crypto-asset service providers, must be authorized in one member state and can then passport that authorization across the bloc, subject to conduct, custody segregation, and governance requirements. Its scope is deliberately bounded: assets already regulated as financial instruments, most unique non-fungible tokens, and services provided in a fully decentralized manner without an intermediary are outside it.
In practice
Under MiCA, an issuer of a euro-denominated electronic money token must hold reserves and grant holders a redemption right at par, and must be authorized as a credit institution or electronic money institution.
The common misunderstanding
That MiCA declares digital assets legal or illegal, when it is a licensing and disclosure framework that leaves substantial areas, including genuinely decentralized arrangements, outside its perimeter.