The MiCA readiness self-assessment

0. Does MiCA reach you at all?

Nexus first, then the exclusions that can put you outside MiCA entirely.

We offer, market, or sell the token to persons in the EU or EEA. We have an EU or EEA establishment, team, or place of effective management. We seek admission to trading on an EU trading platform. flagThe token gives holders rights like a share, bond, or fund unit: profit, dividends, repayment, or a share of returns. If so it may be a financial instrument under MiFID II, outside MiCA and into securities and prospectus law. Art 2(4)(a) scopeEvery unit is genuinely unique and not fungible, a true one-of-one, not a large series or fractionised. A genuine NFT may sit outside MiCA; a fungible token dressed as an NFT does not. Art 2(3) scopeThe token is e-money, a deposit, or another instrument already regulated under other EU law. Art 2

1. What are you actually doing?

Each ticked trigger switches on a part of MiCA. You can be caught by more than one.

Title IIWe offer a crypto-asset (not an ART or EMT) to the public, or seek its admission to trading. Art 3(1)(12) Title IIIWe issue, offer, or seek admission for an asset-referenced token. Title III Title IVWe issue, offer, or seek admission for an e-money token. Title IV Title VWe provide one or more crypto-asset services by way of business. Art 3(1)(16)

The ten crypto-asset services that make you a CASP: custody and administration; operating a trading platform; exchange for funds; exchange for other crypto-assets; execution of orders; placing; reception and transmission of orders; advice; portfolio management; transfer services. Providing any of them to EU clients requires authorisation. Art 3(1)(16)(a)-(j)

2. What is your token, in MiCA’s terms?

Classification drives everything. Your label does not survive contact with the definitions.

It purports to keep a stable value by referencing one official currency: an e-money token (EMT). Art 3(1)(7) It purports to keep a stable value by referencing assets, rights, or a basket (including several currencies): an asset-referenced token (ART). Art 3(1)(6) It is only intended to give access to a good or service we supply: a utility token. Art 3(1)(9) None of the above: another crypto-asset under Title II. flagWe call it “asset-referenced” or “RWA” but it does not hold a stable-value peg. Then it is not a MiCA ART, and an RWA token that carries economic rights is more likely a financial instrument. Recheck section 0.

3. Token design and terms

Where most “utility” tokens fail. Ticking a flag here is the finding, not a failure of the form.

flagHolders can expect yield, profit share, revenue, buy-backs, redemption at a gain, or a claim on assets or their cashflows. flagThe token, or our service on it, grants interest or any time-based benefit, directly or through a third party or the pricing of another product. For ARTs and EMTs this is prohibited and the ban reaches service providers too. Art 40, 50 flagOur terms say “utility only” or “not a security”, but our green paper, site, or marketing promise returns or profit. The documents contradict each other. The rights and obligations attached to the token are clearly and completely defined. Art 6(1)(g) The issuing entity and the governing law are stated and consistent across every document.

4. Marketing

Marketing communications are supervised in their own right, and what they say feeds your classification. Art 7

All marketing is fair, clear, not misleading, and clearly identifiable as marketing. Art 7(1)(a),(b) Marketing is consistent with the white paper. Art 7(1)(c) Marketing states that a white paper is published and gives the offeror’s website, phone number, and email. Art 7(1)(d) Marketing carries the required statement that no competent authority has reviewed or approved it and the offeror is solely responsible. Art 7 flagOur marketing makes claims about the token’s future value, price, or returns. Art 6(4), 7 flagWe run marketing before the required white paper is published. Art 7(2)

5. Disclosures and the white paper

For an offer to the EU public of a crypto-asset other than an ART or EMT. Arts 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13

A white paper is drawn up with all the required content: the offeror or person seeking admission, the issuer, the trading-platform operator where it drafts it, the project, the offer or admission, the crypto-asset, the rights and obligations, the underlying technology, and the risks. Art 6(1)(a)-(i) It discloses the principal adverse climate and other environmental impacts of the consensus mechanism, to the sustainability standard. Art 6(1)(j); RTS 2025/422 It carries the first-page statement that no competent authority has approved it and the offeror is solely responsible. Art 6(3) It contains the mandatory risk statement: the asset may lose value, may not be transferable, may not be liquid, a utility token may not be exchangeable, and it is not covered by investor-compensation or deposit-guarantee schemes. Art 6(5) It contains the management-body compliance declaration and a fair, non-technical summary. Art 6(6),(7) It is in the machine-readable format to the ITS templates, in application since 23 December 2025. Art 6(10); ITS 2024/2984 flagThe white paper asserts something about the token’s future value. Art 6(4) The white paper is notified to the home competent authority at least 20 working days before publication, with an explanation of why the token is not excluded, an EMT, or an ART. Art 8 It is published on a public website before the offer starts and stays available while the tokens are held. Art 9 We can notify and publish a modification at least 7 working days ahead for any significant new factor, material mistake, or inaccuracy, and keep prior versions for 10 years. Art 12 Retail buyers get the 14 calendar day right of withdrawal where it applies, that is, not once the token is admitted to trading before their purchase. Art 13 If we rely on an exemption (fewer than 150 persons per member state, under EUR 1,000,000 over 12 months, qualified investors only, free distribution, validation rewards, a utility for a good or service already in operation, or a limited network), it genuinely applies, and we still meet the legal-person, marketing, and conduct duties. Art 4(2),(3)

6. Structure, substance and capital

For CASPs and issuers. Substance is a continuing condition, not a filing formality.

We are a legal person with a registered office in a member state where we carry out at least part of our services, our effective management in the EU, and at least one EU-resident director. Art 59 Decisions on our EU business are genuinely made in the EU. We are not a letter-box for a group elsewhere, and we do not run more functions outside the EU than inside. ESMA briefing, 31 Jan 2025 We hold prudential safeguards at the higher of our class minimum (Class 1 EUR 50,000; Class 2 EUR 125,000; Class 3 EUR 150,000) or a quarter of last year’s fixed overheads, as own funds or qualifying insurance. Art 67, Annex IV Our management body and qualifying shareholders meet the good-repute and knowledge tests. Art 68 ART issuers only. We are EU-established and authorised, hold the reserve of assets and own funds (the higher of EUR 350,000, 2% of the reserve, or a quarter of overheads), and give holders redemption at any time. Title III EMT issuers only. We are a credit institution or an authorised e-money institution, and the token is redeemable at par at any time. Art 48, 49

7. Ongoing and other requirements

The duties projects underestimate. They start at authorisation, not after it.

We are set up as an AML and CFT obliged entity, with the programme, customer due diligence, and suspicious-transaction reporting. We meet the Travel Rule on every crypto transfer: full originator and beneficiary information, with no de-minimis threshold, and we verify self-hosted wallet ownership above EUR 1,000. Reg 2023/1113; since 30 Dec 2024 We meet DORA: ICT risk management, incident reporting, resilience testing, and third-party ICT risk. Reg 2022/2554; since 17 Jan 2025 We segregate and safeguard client crypto-assets and funds, with client money placed with a central bank or credit institution promptly. Art 70 We have complaints handling, conflicts-of-interest management, outsourcing controls, and record-keeping. Art 71, 72, 73 Client-facing staff meet the ESMA knowledge and competence standard, which applies from 28 July 2026. We passport by notifying the home authority before serving other member states. Art 65

On the horizon, not yet in force: the AML Regulation applies from 10 July 2027, and AMLA begins direct supervision of selected firms from 2028. Build for them now.

8. Timing and context, as at August 2026

The transitional period ended on 1 July 2026. There is no grandfathering. Serving EU clients without the right MiCA status is now a breach, and ESMA has set out how unauthorised firms must wind down.

Choose the home member state deliberately. Authorisations concentrate in a handful: Germany, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, Malta, Luxembourg, and Lithuania. The choice affects speed, banking, and credibility.

On the horizon: the Commission’s MiCA review consultation closes 30 September 2026, and a proposed package would move CASP supervision to ESMA. Its scope is still contested and the outcome is expected around end-2026.

A reality check worth keeping: as of mid-2026 no asset-referenced token issuer has been authorised anywhere in the EU, while a few hundred CASPs are. Verify the live ESMA register before relying on any number.

Should you be filing for MiCA?