Stablecoin issuer / redeemer in European Union

ART issuers must hold a reserve of assets, legally and operationally segregated, covering the referenced assets and redemption liquidity (MiCA Art. 36). EMT issuers must deposit at least 30% of funds received in separate accounts at credit institutions and invest the rest in highly liquid low-risk instruments in the same currency (Art. 54). Issuers and CASPs may not pay interest (Arts 40, 50), and ARTs and non-EU-currency EMTs face the means-of-exchange cap in Art. 23.

Only a credit institution or electronic money institution may offer or seek admission to trading of an e-money token, after notifying its white paper to the competent authority (MiCA Art. 48(1)); an ART may be offered only by an EU-established issuer authorised by its home competent authority (Art. 16, 21) or a credit institution with an approved white paper (Art. 17). Since 8 October 2026 ESMA expects CASPs to stop providing services in non-MiCA-compliant ARTs and EMTs to EU clients (opinion ESMA75-113276571-1742).

EMT holders may redeem at any time and at par value, paid in funds, and redemption is free of fees except under a recovery plan (MiCA Art. 49(4), (6)). ART holders have a permanent right of redemption against the issuer, paid at the market value of the referenced assets or by delivering them (Art. 39).

MiCA does not ban algorithmic stablecoins as a category: recital 41 states that a crypto-asset meeting the ART or EMT definition falls under Title III or IV whatever its stabilisation mechanism, including algorithmic stablecoins, so it can be offered only by an authorised issuer holding the required reserve (Art. 36 for ARTs, Art. 54 for EMTs). Algorithmic crypto-assets that reference no asset fall under Title II. Article 43 sets significance criteria, not reserve rules.

MiCA does not apply to the ECB or national central banks acting as monetary authorities (Art. 2(2)(c)). For ARTs, and for EMTs referencing a non-EU currency (Art. 58(3)), issuance must stop once use as a means of exchange in a single currency area exceeds 1 million transactions and EUR 200 million a day (Art. 23). Tokens with over 10 million holders or over EUR 5 billion in value or reserves may be classified significant (Art. 43) and are then supervised by the EBA (Art. 117).

Under MiCA the EBA supervises issuers of significant asset-referenced tokens and significant e-money tokens (Art 117, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), decides on significance under its 22 October 2024 procedure, and drafts the ART/EMT technical standards and guidelines.

ESMA keeps the MiCA registers of CASPs, white papers and non-compliant entities (Arts 109–110, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), drafts CASP technical standards and issues guidelines; day-to-day CASP authorisation and supervision sits with national competent authorities (Arts 62–63, 93).

CASP authorisation under MiCA is granted by the national competent authority of the home Member State (Arts 62–63, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), for example BaFin, the AMF, the CNMV and the Central Bank of Ireland, which appear as authorising NCAs in the ESMA register.

MiCA, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of 31 May 2023 (OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, p. 40), governs CASP authorisation, crypto-asset white papers and ART/EMT issuance; Titles III and IV (ARTs and EMTs) apply from 30 June 2024 and the rest, including CASP rules, from 30 December 2024 (Art 149).

The recast Transfer of Funds Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, has applied since 30 December 2024 and requires originator and beneficiary information on every crypto-asset transfer regardless of amount; transfers exceeding EUR 1,000 to or from a self-hosted address also trigger a CASP check of ownership or control of that address.

AMLD6, Directive (EU) 2024/1640 of 31 May 2024, sets the national AML/CFT supervisory and FIU framework; Member States must transpose it by 10 July 2027, when it repeals Directive (EU) 2015/849, the AML directive that still applies to CASPs until then.

DAC8, Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226 of 17 October 2023, extends EU automatic exchange of tax information to crypto-assets; Member States had to transpose it by 31 December 2025 and apply it from 1 January 2026, with first reports covering calendar year 2026.

Evidence fact eu.tax not found (may have been renamed).