Guide
MiCA token issuance: which of the three regimes your token falls under
Updated
MiCA has three issuance rules, decided by the token. E-money tokens come only from banks or e-money institutions. Asset-referenced token issuers need authorisation. Anything else needs a notified white paper.
Talk to a specialist Six questions, article references on every answer.
Question 1
Which of these describes what you do, or plan to do, with crypto-assets?
MiCA classifies by activity. Pick the one that carries the most weight in your business model; you can run the checker again for a second activity.
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Token issuance under MiCA: the three regimes
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 splits issuance by what the token references. An e-money token references one official currency, under Title IV. An asset-referenced token references another value or right, or a combination, under Title III.
Everything else, including most utility and governance tokens, falls under Title II. Article 8(4) makes a Title II issuer explain, when notifying its white paper, why the token is neither of the other two. So settle the classification first.
Crypto-assets other than asset-referenced and e-money tokens
Article 4(1) allows an offer to the public in the Union only by a legal person. It needs an Article 6 white paper, notified under Article 8 and published under Article 9, with any marketing drafted and published under Articles 7 and 9.
Article 8(5) requires notification to the home competent authority at least 20 working days before publication. Article 8(3) forbids requiring prior approval: this is notification, not authorisation.
Article 4(2) lifts the white paper duties, not the rest, for three offers. They are offers to fewer than 150 persons per member state, raising no more than EUR 1,000,000 over 12 months, or only to qualified investors.
Article 4(3) takes an offer outside Title II if the token is free, or an automatic reward for maintaining the ledger or validating transactions. The same applies to a utility token for a good or service that already exists, or one usable only with a limited network of merchants.
Asset-referenced tokens need an authorised issuer
Article 16(1) allows an asset-referenced token to be offered or admitted to trading only by its issuer. The issuer must be a Union legal person or other undertaking authorised under Article 21 by its home authority. Or it is a credit institution meeting Article 17, including an approved white paper.
Article 16(2) disapplies that where the token's average outstanding value over 12 months never exceeds EUR 5,000,000 and the issuer is not linked to a network of other exempt issuers.
E-money tokens: only a bank or an e-money institution
Article 48(1) allows an e-money token to be offered or admitted to trading only by its issuer, authorised as a credit institution or electronic money institution. It must have notified and published a white paper under Article 51. Article 48(2) deems an e-money token electronic money. Other firms cannot issue one, but may offer it with the issuer's written consent.
Issuing a token and providing services in it are separate. An exchange, broker or custodian handling a token needs its own crypto-asset service provider authorisation under Article 59, whichever regime the token was issued under.