ESMA warns crypto investors about MiCA

L’European Securities and Markets Authority indicates that crypto investors will benefit from thefull from rights and protections granted to them under MiCA at July 1, 2026 at the latest.

The crypto investors have no protection before the entry into force of MiCA in December 2024, recalledESMA on Tuesday. The legal framework was adopted and published in the EU’s Official Journal last June.

In addition, even after MiCA becomes applicable, member states have the option of granting entities already providing crypto-asset services on their territory an additional 18-month “transition period” during which they can continue to operate […] This means that holders of crypto-assets and customers of crypto-asset service providers will not be able to benefit from the full rights and protections afforded to them under MiCA until July 1, 2026 at the latest,” the EU regulator added.

Pending implementation of the regulation, the European Securities and Markets Authority is working with member states to prepare the “technical standards” and “guidelines” that will clarify how the new rules will apply to crypto service providers.

ESMA also returned to the major groups which will continue to operate in the EU using “generally complex and opaque” structures. In particular, it wishes to prevent the creation of so-called “letterbox” entities that aim to offer services in Europe by relying “largely” on non-European entities.

“In anticipation of the risks posed by global crypto companies and to advance preparations for the implementation of MiCA, ESMA and its members are working to promote coordinated actions across the Union by facilitating the exchange of information between competent authorities on authorisation applications and actual supervisory cases in their jurisdictions, encouraging the convergent application of MiCA rules as soon as possible, consulting with the European Commission to lay the foundations for a common understanding on MiCA provisions that may require further clarity”, reads the press release.

Yesterday, at the Fintech Forum of the ACPR and the AMF, the Governor of the Banque de France also discussed MiCA and the subject of crypto conglomerates. François Villeroy de Galhau referred to “several cases that have come to light in the United States”, which pinpoint “the interplay between different entities and jurisdictions” central to “the opacity and possible misappropriations within these conglomerates”.

ESMA says it is “determined” to ensure that entities offering crypto services understand that the EU is not a ” place for forum shopping or illicit practices “.

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