--- title: "What Is MiCA? The EU Crypto-Asset Rulebook Explained" term: "MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation)" type: glossary_term canonical: https://www.moonwire.org/insights/glossary/mica.html --- # What Is MiCA? The EU Crypto-Asset Rulebook Explained > The European Union's regulation for crypto-assets, stablecoins and the firms serving them. It applies across all EU member states, and firms licensed in one state can serve clients EU-wide. **MiCA** — the **Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation**, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 — is the European Union's single framework for crypto-assets that are not already covered by existing financial-services law. Before MiCA, each member state set its own rules; MiCA replaced that patchwork with one rulebook. ## What it covers - **Stablecoins.** MiCA creates two categories: *e-money tokens* (EMTs), which reference a single official currency, and *asset-referenced tokens* (ARTs), which reference a basket or other assets. Issuers must be authorised and hold reserves under specific requirements. These rules applied from **30 June 2024**. - **Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs).** Exchanges, brokers, custodians and similar firms need a licence as a CASP. The rest of the regulation, including the CASP regime, applied from **30 December 2024**. - **Disclosure and marketing.** Issuers of many crypto-assets must publish a *white paper* with prescribed information, and marketing communications must be fair, clear and consistent with it. - **Market abuse.** MiCA introduces rules against insider dealing and market manipulation in crypto-assets. ## Passporting A CASP licensed by the regulator of one member state can "passport" its services to clients across the whole EU. That is why licence announcements matter commercially: one authorisation opens a market of 27 countries. ESMA, the EU securities regulator, maintains a register of authorised firms. ## Transitional periods Member states could allow firms already operating under national rules to continue during a transition while they applied for a MiCA licence, for up to 18 months — so no later than **1 July 2026** — with individual states free to set shorter windows. The end of those windows is why licensing gaps and deadline stories dominated EU crypto coverage through mid-2026. ## Enforcement National regulators enforce MiCA. Our coverage in [August 2026](/insights/treasury-stablecoin-rules-first-mica-penalty.html) reported what was described as Austria's first published MiCA penalty, which concerned white papers and marketing communications rather than trading — a reminder that the disclosure rules are enforced, not only the licensing ones. ## In MoonWire analysis Our [crypto regulation hub](/insights/topics/crypto-regulation.html) tracks MiCA licensing and enforcement as reported, read against the primary source where possible. ## Further reading - [EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj) - [ESMA: Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation](https://www.esma.europa.eu/esmas-activities/digital-finance-and-innovation/markets-crypto-assets-regulation-mica) - [Wikipedia: Markets in Crypto-Assets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markets_in_Crypto-Assets) ## Where this appears in MoonWire analysis - [The News Ran Exploits and CPI. Tradermayne's Feed Ran Leverage Tiers.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/source-spotlight-tradermayne-2026-08-18.md) — Aug 29, 2026 - [Treasury Proposed Stablecoin Rules the Day MiCA Issued Its First Penalty](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/treasury-stablecoin-rules-first-mica-penalty.md) — Aug 29, 2026 - [Four Governments Acted on Crypto in One Day. Three of Them Aimed at the Venues.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/crypto-rules-target-venues-russia-japan-nigeria.md) — Aug 8, 2026 - [Circle Named 11 Founding Validators for Arc. Four of Them Are BlackRock, Visa, Mastercard and DTCC.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/circle-arc-founding-validators-blackrock-visa-dtcc.md) — Aug 8, 2026 - [Market Pulse - August 1: A Patch Reaches the Firmware, Not the Keys It Already Made. Two Other Stories Saturday Worked the Same Way.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/market-pulse-2026-08-01.md) — Aug 3, 2026 - [Sector Rotation - Week of July 21: Crypto's Venue Layer Emptied and Refilled in the Same Seven Days](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sector-rotation-2026-07-27.md) — Jul 29, 2026 - [Market Pulse - July 16: New Money Arrived. The Oldest Owners Sold It the Coins.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/market-pulse-2026-07-16.md) — Jul 17, 2026 - [State of the Market - June 2026: Crypto Didn't Lose to Tight Money. It Lost an Auction for Easy Money.](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/state-of-market-2026-06.md) — Jul 16, 2026 - [MoonWire Crypto Security Tracker (2026): Losses Fell Below $1 Billion Even as Incidents Hit a Record - and the Threat Moved From Stolen Keys to Manipulated Logic](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/crypto-security-tracker-2026.md) — Jul 14, 2026 - [Sector Rotation - Week of July 7: The Loudest Sector in Crypto Wasn't Crypto - Attention Rotated Toward AI and the Real World](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/sector-rotation-2026-07-14.md) — Jul 14, 2026 - [Breaking Brief — July 13: An Exchange Died of Compliance, and Washington Repriced the Cost of Carrying Crypto](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/compliance-becomes-cost-of-carrying-crypto.md) — Jul 14, 2026 - [Breaking Brief — July 8: Three Regulators Moved, and Every One of Them Was About the Border](https://www.moonwire.org/insights/crypto-regulation-crosses-borders-eu-russia-india.md) — Jul 8, 2026 --- *MoonWire surfaces and summarizes public crypto news.* **General information only — not financial advice.** MoonWire Ltd. is not licensed by ASIC and holds no AFSL. 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