MiCA explained: CASP licences, stablecoins, key dates

MiCA, formally Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, is the EU's single rulebook for crypto-assets that are not already caught by existing financial services law: it covers stablecoin issuers, public offers of other tokens and the firms that provide crypto-asset services. It has applied in full since 30 December 2024, and the grandfathering that let existing firms keep trading under national rules ended in every member state by 1 July 2026 at the latest, so as of November 2026 a crypto firm serving EU clients needs a MiCA authorisation.

MiCA key dates

Dates come from the EUR-Lex record for the regulation and from ESMA's MiCA page, both checked on 3 November 2026.

What MiCA covers

ESMA describes MiCA as uniform EU market rules for crypto-assets that fall outside existing financial services legislation. If a token already counts as a financial instrument, the existing securities rules apply rather than MiCA. MiCA sets requirements on transparency, disclosure, authorisation and supervision for the people who issue crypto-assets and the firms that trade or hold them for clients.

The regulation is organised into titles. The structure of ESMA's register follows it, which makes it a handy map:

ESMA's page also covers consumer protection: one aim of MiCA is that buyers understand the risks of what they are buying. ESMA notes that white papers listed in its register have not been reviewed or approved by any EU authority, so a listing is not an endorsement.

Stablecoins: ARTs and EMTs

MiCA splits stablecoins into two groups with separate rulebooks. E-money tokens sit in Title IV and asset-referenced tokens in Title III, and ESMA keeps a separate register file for the issuers of each.

EMTs are closest to traditional payments. The EU's draft payments reform, politically agreed by Parliament and Council negotiators in November 2025 and not yet in force, states that e-money tokens count as electronic money and as "funds" for payment law purposes. That text also says MiCA's references to e-money institutions issuing EMTs should be read as references to payment institutions once e-money institutions are folded into the payment institution regime. Our PSD3 and PSR explainer covers that reform and its current status.

The same draft text gives an EMT issuer some relief: issuing EMTs does not on its own require a payment institution licence where the issuer is already a MiCA CASP or a credit institution, unless it also provides payment services. It also requires e-money issuers to be legal persons established in the EU, to line up with MiCA.

For anyone comparing stablecoins, the practical step is the register. If a token is offered to EU users, its issuer should appear in ESMA's ART or EMT issuer file, or in the national authority's records.

The CASP licence

A crypto-asset service provider is the firm in the middle between the token and the client, such as a trading platform or a custodian. Under MiCA they need authorisation from the national competent authority of their home member state. ESMA's material refers to this as the authorisation decision under Article 63.

The main reason firms want the MiCA licence rather than a national registration is the passport. ESMA's December 2024 statement is explicit that firms relying on transitional measures did not get EU passporting rights; only a full MiCA authorisation does. A CASP authorised in one member state can then serve clients in other member states.

Each member state has notified ESMA which authority supervises crypto firms, and ESMA publishes that list alongside the register. For firms based in Cyprus, see our CySEC explainer.

Simplified route for firms already licensed nationally

Article 143(6) allowed member states to apply a simplified authorisation procedure to firms that already held a national authorisation to provide crypto services on 30 December 2024. ESMA's MiCA page lists this alongside the grandfathering option as one of the two transitional tools.

What ESMA expected from applicants

ESMA's 17 December 2024 statement set out its expectations for firms moving across:

• apply for MiCA authorisation as early as possible;
• engage early with the authority in every member state where they have clients;
• make every reasonable effort to comply with MiCA during the transition, avoid harm to clients and markets, and keep meeting anti-money laundering rules;
• plan for different deadlines in different countries.

Transitional periods by member state

Article 143(3) let firms that were lawfully providing crypto services under national law before 30 December 2024 continue until 1 July 2026, or until they were granted or refused MiCA authorisation, whichever came first. Each member state could shorten that window or not offer it at all.

ESMA argued for shorter periods. In October 2023 its chair, Verena Ross, wrote to EU finance ministers asking them to consider capping grandfathering at 12 months. Member states split, as ESMA's published list shows:

Source: ESMA list of MiCA grandfathering periods under Article 143(3), version on ESMA's site as checked on 3 November 2026. The list also shows 18 months for Iceland and 12 months for Liechtenstein and Norway. Several countries added conditions in footnotes, such as application deadlines (Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Italy). ESMA notes that some periods may not have been written into national law when the list was compiled.

Periods run from 30 December 2024, so an 18-month period ends on 1 July 2026, the hard cap in the regulation. The shorter periods ended earlier.

The multi-country trap

ESMA's statement flagged a problem for firms active in several countries: each host country's own period applied. A firm grandfathered for 18 months at home could lose its basis in a 6-month country long before its MiCA licence arrived, leaving a gap of several months without the authorisation needed there.

Where things stand in November 2026

The transition is over. Because 1 July 2026 was the outer limit everywhere, no member state can still be relying on Article 143(3) grandfathering. A firm serving EU clients today should be either MiCA-authorised or able to point to another legal basis in the regulation.

ESMA's MiCA page, checked on 3 November 2026, shows the interim register was last updated on 30 October 2026. ESMA had said the register would stay in CSV files until mid-2026 and then move into its IT systems. The page did not carry a separate statement on the end of the transitional period dated after 1 July 2026.

Other supervisory work has continued after go-live. White papers have had to follow a machine-readable iXBRL format since 23 December 2025, using a taxonomy ESMA published on 5 August 2025. ESMA published standard message formats for CASP order book and record-keeping data on 28 November 2025, and national authorities said they expected to begin requesting data in that format within six months.

How to check a crypto firm under MiCA

1. Find the legal entity that contracts with you. The trading brand and the authorised company often have different names.
2. Open ESMA's interim MiCA register from its MiCA page and search the authorised CASPs file for that entity. ESMA updates the files weekly, though national reports can take time to appear.
3. Check the non-compliant entities file in the same register.
4. Confirm the details on the home country authority's own register, using ESMA's list of competent authorities.
5. If a firm has had its authorisation withdrawn, ESMA keeps the record and shows the date the withdrawal took effect.

Our guide on how to check a financial licence walks through register searches in more detail. For exchange-level detail, see our Coinbase vs Kraken comparison and the crypto category hub.

How MiCA fits with other rules

MiCA does not stand alone. Crypto firms in the EU also fall under anti-money laundering rules, which ESMA reminded firms to keep meeting during the transition. Operational resilience rules for financial entities are explained in our DORA guide. UK users are outside MiCA altogether; the UK runs its own regime, described in our page on FCA crypto promotions.

The pending EU payments reform also touches MiCA. Council document 8222/26 shows the new payment services directive would amend MiCA and give CASPs authorised under Article 63 a shorter route to a payment institution licence, reusing information they already gave their regulator.

Key terms

• MiCA: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets.
• CASP: crypto-asset service provider, a firm authorised under Title V to provide crypto-asset services.
• ART: asset-referenced token, a stablecoin category governed by Title III.
• EMT: e-money token, a stablecoin category governed by Title IV and treated as electronic money.
• White paper: the disclosure document required for public offers of crypto-assets.
• Grandfathering: the Article 143(3) transitional period that let existing firms keep operating under national law until 1 July 2026 at the latest.
• Passporting: the right of a firm authorised in one member state to serve clients in others.
• NCA: national competent authority, the regulator each member state names to supervise MiCA.

Information only, not financial or investment advice. Crypto-assets are high-risk and you could lose all the money you put in.