MiCA and stablecoins: e-money tokens vs asset-referenced tokens
How the EU splits stablecoins into EMTs and ARTs, the key dates, what happened to non-compliant tokens, and what EU treasuries should check.
If your entity is in the EU and holds or pays with stablecoins, MiCA decides which tokens can be offered to you, who can hold them for you, and what redemption rights you have. The CASP transitional period ended on 1 July 2026, so any provider you still use should now be authorised [3].
Two kinds of stablecoin
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, sorts stable-value tokens into two groups [1]. An e-money token, or EMT, aims to keep a stable value by referencing a single official currency, such as a euro or dollar token [1]. An asset-referenced token, or ART, is any other token that aims to keep a stable value by referencing another value or right, or a mix, which can include several currencies [1].
The distinction matters because the rules differ. EMTs are treated as electronic money [1], so they sit close to the existing e-money framework. ARTs have a bespoke regime built around a reserve of assets [1].
E-money tokens (Title IV)
- Who may offer: only the issuer, and only if it is authorised as a credit institution or an electronic money institution and has notified and published a crypto-asset white paper; others may offer the token with the issuer's written consent [1].
- Issue and redemption: tokens must be issued at par on receipt of funds, and the issuer must redeem at any time and at par on the holder's request, paying out funds rather than e-money [1].
- Fees: redemption may not be charged a fee [1].
- Claim: holders have a claim against the issuer [1].
- No interest: neither the issuer nor a CASP may grant interest, and any benefit linked to how long you hold the token counts as interest [1].
- Safeguarded funds: at least 30% must always sit in separate accounts at credit institutions, with the rest in secure, low-risk, highly liquid instruments in the same currency the token references [1].
Asset-referenced tokens (Title III)
An ART may be offered to the public or admitted to trading in the EU only by its issuer, and only if that issuer is an EU legal person authorised by its home regulator, or a credit institution that meets MiCA's notification conditions [1]. ART issuers must maintain a reserve of assets [1], and, as with EMTs, neither the issuer nor a CASP may grant interest on the token [1].
Tokens that grow large can be classified as significant. Supervision of significant ARTs and EMTs moves to the European Banking Authority [4], and issuers of significant EMTs face extra requirements, including an independent audit every six months [1].
Key dates
- 30 June 2024: Titles III and IV, the ART and EMT rules, applied [1].
- 30 December 2024: the rest of MiCA, including the CASP regime, applied [1].
- End of Q1 2025: ESMA's deadline for CASPs to stop offering non-compliant ARTs and EMTs, with sell-only services allowed until then [2].
- 2 March 2026: end of the EBA no-action transition after which CASPs that transfer or hold EMTs for clients should also have a payment services authorisation [5].
- 1 July 2026: the latest end of the CASP transitional period; member states could shorten it [1][3].
What happened to non-compliant stablecoins
Many widely used stablecoins were not issued by an EU-authorised issuer. In January 2025 ESMA said that trading platforms should stop making such non-compliant ARTs and EMTs available for trading, and that order, execution and exchange services that amount to an offer to the public should also stop [2]. Restrictions on buying were expected by the end of January 2025, with sell-only services allowed until the end of March 2025 [2].
ESMA also said that mere custody and transfer of these tokens should remain possible [2]. Holding a non-compliant token is therefore not, in itself, made unlawful by that statement. In practice, though, you may find fewer EU venues and worse execution when you want to sell or convert it [2].
After 1 July 2026
ESMA's April 2026 statement says that from 1 July 2026 any entity providing crypto-asset services to EU clients without a MiCA licence is in breach of EU law [3]. Unauthorised providers were expected to have run their wind-down plans by that date, for example by moving client assets to an authorised CASP or a self-hosted wallet [3]. ESMA stresses that MiCA protection applies only to the specific authorised EU legal entity, not to other group companies or non-EU affiliates, and that this also applies in business-to-business relationships [3]. It points clients to the ESMA interim MiCA register to verify a provider [3].
Separately, the EBA advised that CASPs transferring EMTs, or holding them in custodial wallets for clients, should also hold a payment services authorisation from 2 March 2026 [5]. Exchanging crypto for fiat or crypto falls outside that advice [5].
Accounting is a separate question
MiCA is a market regulation. It governs issuance, offering and services, not how a holder classifies a token in its financial statements. A legally enforceable par redemption right for EMTs is a relevant fact for that analysis, but the classification under your accounting framework still needs its own assessment with your auditor.
What to do
- Classify each stablecoin you hold as an EMT, an ART, or a token with no EU-authorised issuer.
- For each EMT, record the issuer's authorisation and white paper, and confirm your direct redemption route and timing.
- Check every exchange, custodian and payment provider you use against the ESMA interim MiCA register, and confirm which legal entity contracts with you.
- If you still hold non-compliant tokens, decide whether to keep, convert or move them, and document the liquidity risk.
- Confirm that providers who transfer or custody EMTs for you hold any payment services authorisation your regulator expects.
- Write the MiCA status of each token and provider into your treasury policy and review it quarterly.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets (EUR-Lex)
- Public Statement on the provision of certain crypto-asset services in relation to non-MiCA compliant ARTs and EMTs (ESMA)
- Statement on the End of Transitional Periods under MiCA (ESMA)
- Asset-referenced and e-money tokens (MiCA) (European Banking Authority)
- EBA publishes No Action letter on the interplay between Payment Services Directive (PSD2/3) and Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) (European Banking Authority)
General information for finance teams, current as of publication. Not legal, tax or accounting advice.