EU MiCA Explained: CASP Authorization, Stablecoin Rules and Life After the Transition Period

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, (EU) 2023/1114) is the EU's first unified crypto-asset regulation. As a regulation it applies directly in every member state, ending the era of patchwork national rules. It covers three areas: authorization of CASPs (crypto-asset service providers), issuance of ARTs (asset-referenced tokens), and issuance of EMTs (e-money tokens, meaning single fiat currency stablecoins). Licensing sits with each member state's NCA, with ESMA and EBA coordinating; significant stablecoins are supervised directly by the EBA. A license from one country passports across the EU.

CASP authorization covers ten services: custody, operating a trading platform, exchanging tokens (for fiat and for other tokens), executing orders for clients, placing, receiving and transmitting orders, advice, portfolio management, and token transfer services. Prudential capital is tiered by service mix: EUR 50,000 for Class 1, EUR 125,000 for Class 2, and EUR 150,000 for Class 3 (operating a trading platform).

EMT issuance carries the highest bar in MiCA: only licensed credit institutions (banks) or licensed EMIs may issue single fiat currency stablecoins, which turns the EMI license into the entry ticket for the EU stablecoin market. ART issuers need their own dedicated authorization, with own funds of at least the higher of EUR 350,000 or 2 percent of average reserve assets, and reserves must be held in segregated custody and reviewed regularly. Both types of issuer are bound by white paper, redemption right and marketing rules.

This explains why European exchanges delisted non-compliant stablecoins in waves during 2024 and 2025: stablecoins that do not meet the EMT requirements can no longer be offered to the EU public.

MiCA started applying to CASPs on 30 December 2024, and Article 143(3) allowed member states to grant existing firms a transition period of up to 18 months. That window closed for good on 1 July 2026: legacy crypto service providers without a MiCA license must stop taking new clients and wind down in an orderly way. Another milestone has also passed: on 2 March 2026, the transitional PSD2 exemption for CASPs providing only EMT-related services ended. There is now only one way into the EU market: full MiCA authorization.

There is no single EU-wide application portal or fee schedule; each NCA sets its own. Licensed firms are consolidated in ESMA's Interim MiCA Register, the authoritative source for verifying a crypto service provider's EU status.

On 8 October 2026 ESMA published Opinion ESMA75-113276571-1742. The release says CASPs authorised under MiCA should stop services to EU clients involving non-MiCA-compliant ARTs and EMTs. Legacy exposures should be remediated as soon as possible and no later than three months after publication. The release checked here does not name a token and does not regulate crypto cards directly. Covered services, the three-month window, and the instruction to verify a USDT-funded card with the issuer are in a separate entry.