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MiCA — What the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation Actually Means

MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) is the EU's single rulebook for crypto-assets. It requires every crypto-asset service provider to hold a CASP license from a national supervisor, enforces capital and custody-segregation rules, and regulates stablecoin issuers. It applies across all 27 member states, replacing national regimes from December 2024.

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) is the EU's unified framework for crypto-asset service providers and crypto-asset issuers. It applies in all 27 EU member states from December 2024 and replaces the patchwork of national licenses that preceded it. This page is a plain-language reference: who MiCA covers, what it requires, and what the license Penning operates under actually grants.

What MiCA covers

MiCA applies to two categories: crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) and crypto-asset issuers. CASPs are firms that custody, exchange, transmit, advise on, or place crypto-assets on behalf of clients. Issuers are entities that publicly offer crypto-assets — most of MiCA's issuer rules target stablecoin issuers (electronic-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens). Crypto-assets that already qualify as financial instruments (MiFID securities, deposits) sit outside MiCA and continue to be regulated by the existing frameworks.

The CASP license

A CASP license authorises a firm to offer one or more of ten services: custody and administration of crypto-assets, operation of a trading platform, exchange of crypto-assets for fiat or for other crypto-assets, execution of orders, placing of crypto-assets, reception and transmission of orders, advice, portfolio management, transfer services, and crypto-asset issuance. Penning is licensed for seven of these: custody, exchange of crypto for fiat, exchange between crypto-assets, execution, reception and transmission of orders, portfolio management, and transfer services. Custody, while authorised, is not a product Penning currently offers — Penning operates as a brokerage and holds no client crypto; assets are delivered directly to your own wallet.

EU passporting

A CASP license granted in one member state lets the firm serve customers in any other EU member state without applying separately in each. Penning holds its CASP license from the Danish FSA (Finanstilsynet) and passports it across the EU. This is mechanically similar to how MiFID II investment firms passport across the EU.

Operational requirements

MiCA imposes detailed operational requirements on CASPs: minimum capital (ranges from €50,000 to €150,000 depending on services offered), segregation of client assets from the firm's own assets, an EU-resident management body, an established conflicts-of-interest policy, a complaints-handling procedure, ICT risk-management (DORA), AML/KYC obligations under MiCA-AMLR alignment, and ongoing prudential supervision by the home-state regulator.

Stablecoin rules

For stablecoin issuers, MiCA introduces two regimes: electronic-money tokens (EMTs, fiat-pegged 1:1) and asset-referenced tokens (ARTs, basket-backed). Both require an EU-authorised issuer, full backing in segregated reserves, monthly disclosures, and capital buffers. Several non-EU stablecoins (notably some non-MiCA-compliant USD tokens) have been de-listed by EU exchanges. Penning lists three stablecoins and states their status plainly: USDC is issued by a MiCA-authorised e-money institution (Circle, licensed in France). Aryze eEUR and PayPal USD (PUSD) are not yet issued by EU-authorised issuers — eEUR's Copenhagen-founded issuer has said publicly that it is pursuing an EMI licence and a MiCA-aligned setup in Denmark.

What MiCA does not cover

NFTs (provided they are genuinely unique and non-fungible), DeFi protocols that operate fully on-chain without an identifiable intermediary, and crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments under MiFID II are outside MiCA's direct scope. Wholesale-only services and intra-group transfers are also exempt.

MiCA FAQ

FAQ

MiCA was adopted in May 2023, published in the Official Journal in June 2023, and entered into force in June 2023 with a phased application. The stablecoin rules (Titles III and IV) started applying in June 2024, and the rest (including the CASP regime) started applying in December 2024.

Trade on a MiCA-licensed platform

Penning is Denmark's first CASP-licensed crypto platform — fully MiCA-compliant across the EU.