MiCA in a nutshell. The key information that you need to know from the legal perspective
The European Union has attempted to comprehensively regulate the cryptocurrency sector and its functioning in trading to this end, the European Parliament by majority decision adopted the MiCA (Market in Crypto-Assets) Regulation.
This regulation aims to regulate cryptocurrencies and digital assets in the European Union, setting requirements for public offerings and for the authorisation of crypto-assets that are:
- E- money tokens “ETM”
- asset-referenced tokens “ART”
- tokens that are not ETMs or ARTs
MiCA’s mandate is to ensure greater transparency, safety and market investor protection in the cryptocurrency market in the European Union.
The regulations introduce:
- uniform definitions of crypto-assets (CA) related terms
- regulation of crypto-assets service providers in particular their registration, risk management, customer protection, transaction reporting
- creating licenses for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). The licence requires compliance with a number of cryptocurrency requirements including: capital requirements, customer cryptocurrency security and other aspects of the activities
- investor protection through appropriate measures to protect investors from fraudulent practices
The regulation provides for a number of requirements regarding the information document and its publication
MiCA Timeline:
June 9, 2023 – publication of MiCA in the Official Journal of the European Union
June 29, 2023 – entry into force
December 30, 2024 – commencement of application of MiCA
