The preceding How to check whether a crypto firm is authorised addresses verification of a provider's status.
For a token within MiCA's scope, the issuer must distinguish an e-money token (EMT) from an asset-referenced token (ART). That classification determines the required permission, financial resources and redemption terms. A crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorisation does not replace these issuer requirements. Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, Articles 3(1)(6)–(7), 16(1) and 48(1).
Summary
- Within MiCA, a token purporting to maintain stable value against one official currency is an EMT. An ART references another value, right or combination and is not an EMT. The reference determines the category; holding several reserve assets does not itself make a token an ART. MiCA, Article 3(1)(6)–(7).
- Subject to the statutory exceptions, an EMT issuer must be a credit institution or electronic money institution (EMI). The issuer must also notify and publish its white paper. MiCA, Article 48(1), (4)–(7).
- An ordinary EMI requires €350,000 initial capital. Its ongoing own-funds calculation ordinarily includes 2% of average outstanding electronic money, subject to the applicable floor and adjustments. Directive 2009/110/EC, Articles 4–5.
- An ART issuer ordinarily needs token-specific authorisation. Credit institutions follow Article 17, while Article 16(2) provides limited exemptions. MiCA, Articles 16–17.
- Non-bank ART issuers must distinguish own funds from the reserve backing holders' claims. The ordinary own-funds requirement is the greatest of €350,000, 2% of the average reserve and one quarter of fixed overheads. MiCA, Articles 35–36.
- EMT holders can ordinarily redeem at any time, at par, in funds other than electronic money. ART holders have the different redemption rights prescribed by Article 39. MiCA, Articles 39 and 49.
- Issuers and service providers cannot grant interest linked to holding ARTs or EMTs. Payment-use thresholds and significant-token classifications can impose further restrictions or obligations. MiCA, Articles 23, 40, 43, 45, 50 and 58.
Token classification
The proposed reference value determines the starting route for a crypto-asset within MiCA. Article 2(4) excludes financial instruments and the other categories specified there. A token purporting to maintain stable value by reference to one official currency is an EMT. This includes a token referencing the US dollar, because the definition is not confined to Member State currencies. A basket of currencies or another reference value can instead produce an ART classification. MiCA, Articles 2(4) and 3(1)(6)–(8).
The assets backing a token must be distinguished from the value it references. A dollar-referenced token does not become an ART merely because its issuer invests received funds in several eligible instruments. Its single-currency reference remains the relevant classification fact. The issuer must then satisfy the investment restrictions applicable to that EMT. MiCA, Articles 3(1)(7) and 54.
The EMT authorisation route
An ordinary EMT issuer needs authorisation as a credit institution or EMI. For an EMI, the application proceeds under the home Member State's legislation implementing Directive 2009/110/EC, alongside MiCA's requirements. A CASP authorisation alone does not satisfy the issuer eligibility condition. MiCA, Article 48(1), (3).
Two MiCA notification periods affect launch planning. The issuer must notify its intended public offer or admission to trading at least 40 working days beforehand. It must notify the white paper at least 20 working days before publishing it. Publication must precede the offer or admission. Those periods concern different events and need not run consecutively. MiCA, Articles 48(6) and 51(11), (13).
An EMT white paper does not require prior regulatory approval. Its notification cannot substitute for the underlying institutional authorisation, and the document must carry the prescribed non-approval statement. Neither notification period establishes how long a new EMI authorisation will take. MiCA, Articles 48(1) and 51(3), (11).
EMI capital and safeguarding
Directive 2009/110/EC requires €350,000 initial capital for an ordinary EMI. The ongoing calculation ordinarily includes 2% of average outstanding electronic money and requirements for payment services unrelated to issuance. Own funds must meet the higher of the applicable initial-capital floor and calculated requirement. Supervisory adjustments and statutory exceptions can change that calculation. Directive 2009/110/EC, Articles 4–5.
Received customer funds require separate treatment. For EMT issuance funds safeguarded under Article 7(1) of that Directive, MiCA requires at least 30% in separate credit-institution accounts. The remainder must be invested in secure, low-risk, highly liquid financial instruments denominated in the token's referenced currency. Those instruments must satisfy the prescribed market, credit and concentration-risk conditions. This rule concerns safeguarded issuance funds, not the EMI's own capital. MiCA, Article 54.
EMT issuance and redemption
The issuer must issue EMTs at par when it receives funds. Holders obtain a claim against the issuer and can require redemption at any time, at par. Payment must be in funds other than electronic money. A secondary-market sale facility alone does not satisfy the issuer's redemption obligation. MiCA, Article 49(2)–(4).
The white paper must state the redemption conditions prominently. Ordinary redemption is free of fees, subject to Article 46's recovery provisions. These rights belong to token holders; the statute does not confine them to the issuer's original subscribers. MiCA, Article 49(2), (5)–(6).
ART authorisation and application evidence
An ART issuer ordinarily must be an EU-established legal person or other eligible undertaking. It applies to its home Member State's competent authority for authorisation. Other undertakings need equivalent third-party protection and prudential supervision. The permission covers the particular ART throughout the Union. MiCA, Articles 16(1), (3) and 18(1).
The applicant must explain the token's stabilisation mechanism and the arrangements for reserves, custody and redemption. Its legal opinion must address why the token is neither excluded from MiCA nor an EMT. The file must also substantiate management, ownership, financial resources and the controls supporting the proposed issuance. MiCA, Article 18(2).
The application documentation now includes the standard form and template in Annexes I and II to Implementing Regulation 2025/1126. The accompanying information requirements appear in Delegated Regulation 2025/1125. These prescribed documents supplement the substantive Article 18 requirements. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/1126, Article 1(1); Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1125.
The ART route for credit institutions
A credit institution follows Article 17 rather than the standalone ART application procedure. It needs approval of the ART white paper and must notify the specified information at least 90 working days before first issuance. That information includes the programme of operations, legal opinion and the required operating arrangements. MiCA, Article 17(1).
The authority checks completeness within 20 working days. It can set a missing-information deadline of up to 20 working days; the 90-working-day period pauses until that deadline expires. An incomplete notification prevents a public offer or admission request. Credit institutions are exempt from the separate Article 35 own-funds requirements, including where the ART is significant. MiCA, Article 17(3)–(4).
Limited issuance exemptions
Article 16(2) provides two alternatives to the ordinary ART authorisation condition. The first concerns average outstanding value not exceeding €5 million over 12 months, calculated at each calendar day's end. The issuer must also have no link to a network of other exempt issuers. The second requires an offer directed solely at qualified investors and holdings restricted to those investors. MiCA, Article 16(2)(a)–(b).
Neither exemption removes the whole ART regime. The issuer must prepare an Article 19 white paper and notify it to the competent authority. A qualifying-investor label cannot satisfy the second exemption where other investors are allowed to hold the tokens. MiCA, Article 16(2).
Certain small-EMI waivers depend on national implementation of Directive 2009/110/EC. They do not confer the Directive's cross-border establishment and services rights. MiCA preserves the applicable white-paper duties. The additional exemptions incorporated through Article 48(5) also retain Article 51's requirements. Directive 2009/110/EC, Article 9(1), (3); MiCA, Article 48(4)–(7).
ART assessment and decision
The authority checks a standalone ART application's completeness within 25 working days. It then has 60 working days from receipt of a complete application to assess compliance and reach a reasoned draft decision. Article 20 permits a missing-information suspension capped at 20 working days; further requests do not produce further suspensions. MiCA, Article 20(1)–(3).
The central-bank opinion stage follows that assessment. The relevant opinions have a 20-working-day period. After receiving those opinions, the competent authority has 25 working days to grant or refuse authorisation and five working days to notify the decision. Granting authorisation also approves the white paper. These conditional stages do not establish a guaranteed launch date. MiCA, Articles 20(4)–(5) and 21(1).
A complete application can still fail on management, ownership, compliance or business-model grounds. A negative central-bank opinion requires refusal where it rests on the payment-system or monetary grounds specified in Article 21(4). The mandatory-refusal rule should not be extended to every concern mentioned in an opinion. MiCA, Article 21(2), (4).
ART own funds and reserves
For an ART issuer subject to Article 35, own funds must meet the greatest of three amounts. They are €350,000, 2% of the average reserve assets and one quarter of the preceding year's fixed overheads. The reserve average uses the preceding six months. The authority can impose adjustments under the statutory risk and stress-testing provisions. MiCA, Article 35(1), (3)–(5).
The reserve has a separate legal function. Its market value must at least equal the aggregate value of holders' claims. The issuer must segregate it legally and operationally, with no recourse for the issuer's creditors against the reserve. Each ART requires a separately managed pool, subject to the rule for multiple issuers of the same ART. MiCA, Article 36(1)–(7).
Custody must use an eligible legal person different from the issuer. The permitted custodian depends on the asset held, and cash must be recorded in separate credit-institution accounts. An issuer's own wallet or accounting entry does not satisfy every custody requirement. An independent audit of the reserve is required every six months. MiCA, Articles 36(9) and 37(3)–(6).
Reserve investments must meet Article 38's liquidity and risk conditions. Investment profits and losses belong to the issuer, including losses from operational or counterparty risks. The issuer cannot replace its statutory reserve duties with a promise to pass investment losses to holders. MiCA, Articles 36(7) and 38(1), (4).
ART redemption terms
ART holders have a permanent redemption right against the issuer and, when the issuer cannot meet its obligations, in respect of reserve assets. On request, the issuer must pay an amount equivalent to the market value of the assets referenced or deliver the referenced assets. The statutory reference is not simply the current value of whatever investments happen to sit in the reserve. MiCA, Article 39(1)–(2).
Where the issuer accepted funds in an official currency when selling the ART, holders must always have a redemption option in that currency. The issuer must specify the available arrangements in its redemption policy. Ordinary redemption is free of fees, subject to Article 46. These provisions do not impose the EMT rule of redemption at currency par on every ART. MiCA, Article 39(2)–(3).
Interest and holding rewards
MiCA prohibits issuer interest on ARTs and EMTs and bars CASPs from granting interest when providing related crypto-asset services. MiCA treats remuneration linked to how long a token is held as interest. The prohibition includes qualifying discounts, compensation through third parties and benefits delivered through another product's pricing. Relabelling a duration-linked return as a loyalty reward does not remove the statutory test. MiCA, Articles 40 and 50.
Reporting and payment-use limits
An ART issuer must report quarterly to its competent authority where the token's issue value exceeds €100 million. The authority can require reporting below that figure. Required information includes holders, issuance and reserve values, transactions and estimated use as a means of exchange. CASPs must supply the information needed by the issuer. MiCA, Article 22(1)–(3).
Article 23 imposes a separate issuance restriction. It applies where estimated daily averages over a quarter exceed both one million transactions and €200 million in value. The calculation concerns use as a means of exchange within a single currency area. The issuer must stop issuance and submit a corrective plan within 40 working days of reaching the threshold. These are payment-use thresholds, not a general token market-cap ceiling. Resumption requires the authority to have evidence that both measures have fallen below their respective thresholds. MiCA, Article 23(1), (5).
The transaction classification matters. Exchanges with an issuer or CASP generally fall outside the means-of-exchange calculation, unless the token settles transactions in other crypto-assets. Activity cannot be excluded merely because it occurs on a trading venue. The methodology also requires the issuer to deduct uses of the token as collateral for transactions with financial instruments, uses to settle derivative contracts, and other transactions where the issuer has reasonable grounds to assume that the purpose is not to pay for goods or services and can demonstrate those grounds to the competent authority. MiCA, Article 22(1), final subparagraph; Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/298, Article 3.
Article 58(3) extends these reporting and issuance rules to EMTs referencing a currency other than a Member State's official currency. A dollar-referenced EMT therefore requires this additional assessment. The provision does not itself prohibit all EU issuance of dollar-referenced tokens. MiCA, Articles 23 and 58(3).
Significant tokens
The European Banking Authority (EBA) must classify an ART as significant where at least three of MiCA's prescribed criteria are met; an applicant issuer may also request voluntary classification where it is likely to meet at least three criteria. For ART issuers subject to Article 35, the reserve-based own-funds percentage then becomes 3%. Significant-token status also brings additional liquidity and operational duties. The classification cannot be determined from an issuer's chosen description of its business. MiCA, Articles 43–45.
An EMI issuing a significant EMT must apply Article 58's additional reserve, custody, investment and prudential requirements. Those provisions replace specified ordinary e-money requirements. EBA's supervisory responsibility for these EMIs concerns Articles 55 and 58; national authorities retain their other responsibilities. A transfer of those functions does not transfer every aspect of the institution's supervision. MiCA, Articles 58(1) and 117(4)–(5).
White-paper content and format
ART and EMT white papers have different prescribed content under Annexes II and III. The issuer must describe the token's rights, risks and relevant operating arrangements accurately. Approval of an ART white paper and notification of an EMT white paper are different procedures, although each document must meet its substantive content requirements. MiCA, Articles 19, 21(1) and 51.
The binding format standards require a machine-readable document. ESMA's implementation statement specifies XHTML with fields marked using Inline XBRL 1.1. A marketing presentation or ordinary PDF does not replace that prescribed format. The statement explains the implementing regulation; it does not independently create the obligation. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2984, Article 2; ESMA Statement ESMA75-1303207761-6284, 28 November 2025, pp. 2, 4.
Recovery and orderly redemption
Issuers must prepare recovery and orderly-redemption arrangements. A recovery plan addresses restoration of reserve compliance and continuity of critical activities. An orderly-redemption plan applies when the authority determines that the issuer cannot, or is likely unable to, fulfil its obligations. MiCA extends these requirements to EMT issuers with the prescribed adaptations. MiCA, Articles 46–47 and 55.
Recovery arrangements can include liquidity fees, redemption limits and suspension measures. The authority also has a power to suspend redemption temporarily under the statutory conditions. These crisis provisions qualify ordinary fee-free redemption; they do not create an unrestricted right to impose commercial exit charges. MiCA, Articles 39(3), 46(1), (4) and 49(6).
Liability for white-paper information
Issuers and members of their administrative, management or supervisory bodies can be liable for losses caused by defective white-paper information. Holders must establish the required infringement and reliance affecting their purchase, sale or exchange decision. Claims based on a summary require misleading, inaccurate or inconsistent information, or missing key information, assessed with the full white paper. MiCA, Articles 26(1), (3)–(4) and 52(1), (3)–(4).
Contractual exclusions or limitations of that civil liability have no legal effect. MiCA also preserves other civil-liability claims under national law. Approval, notification and contractual disclaimers therefore do not remove the specified liability for inaccurate or misleading disclosure. MiCA, Articles 26(2), (5) and 52(2), (5).
