MiCAR (Reg. EU 2023/1114)

Definition.

The regulation known as 'MiCAR' means the Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets, and amending Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 1095/2010 and Directives 2013/36/EU and (EU) 2019/1937.

Content and scope of application.

The regulation has caused great excitement among scholars and practitioners because it sets out for the first time uniform requirements for the public offer and admission to trading on a trading platform of certain crypto assets as well as requirements for service providers for crypto assets.

It applies only to:

- utility tokens;

- "monetary tokens", including those tokens which under the Regulation itself are defined as "asset-referenced tokens" and "e-money tokens".

Under Art. 3, par. 1:

an ‘asset-referenced token’ is a type of crypto-asset that is not an electronic money token and that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right or a combination thereof, including one or more official currencies (n. 6);

an ‘electronic money token’ or ‘e-money token’ means a type of crypto-asset that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing the value of one official currency (n. 7);

an ‘utility token’ is a type of crypto-asset that is only intended to provide access to a good or a service supplied by its issuer (n. 9).

According to Art. 2, par. 4, the Regulation does not apply to crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments. Consequently, it does not apply to those tokens that are known as “security tokens”.  Paragraph 5 below then defers to ESMA to develop, by 30 December 2024, guidelines in accordance with Art. 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 on the conditions and criteria for the qualification of crypto-assets as financial instruments.

Implementation.

The Regulation was enacted on 31 May 2023 and was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 June 2023. It shall apply from 30 December 2024, except for Titles III and IV, which shall apply from 30 June 2024.

References and Websites.

For more details see:

A. Lanotte, L’avvento del MiCA mette davvero fine al Crypto Far West in Europa?, in Econopoly, 24 Aprile 2023, available here;

P. Carrière, Decreto Fintech e MICAR: il quadro normativo sulle cripto attività, in Dirittobancario.it, 30 maggio 2023, available here.

The full text of the MiCAR Regulation, Reg. (UE) 2023/1114, is available here.

The official, updated version of the Regulation is available here.