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MiCA: unresolved questions

9 June 2025 / Author(s): Dr Oliver Völkel
Issue: June 2025 / Categories: Feature

The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation has been in force for the better part of a year. Still, many legal questions surrounding its scope of application remain unanswered and new questions are emerging at a rapid pace. Among those open issues are whether European Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation’s (MiCA’s or MiCAR’s) asset-referenced tokens can be characterised as derivative financial instruments under MiFID II, as well as their differentiation from “other” cryptoassets. The understanding of white paper obligations is evolving. The question of how cryptoassets service providers (CASPs) may use cryptoassets initially received for custody purposes is being debated, and the link between EU and national law raises further questions about how to insolvency-proof a CASP’s custody business. This article aims to shed light on these topics and provide ideas for an understanding of MiCA’s provisions going forward.

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