The European financial regulator unveiled a package of technical standards and guidelines for token issuers under the MiCA bill. The new regulatory guidelines apply to asset-referenced token (ART) and electronic money token (EMT) issuers registered in the EU.
The European Banking Authority (EBA) introduced a package of regulatory guidelines and technical standards as part of the Market in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA) bill. The regulatory rules address collateralization, liquidity, and recovery of tokens whose value is backed by different asset classes or fiat currencies.
Under MiCA, ARTs (Asset-Referenced Tokens) are tokens backed by commodities, real estate, or a portfolio of different assets. EMTs (Electronic Money Tokens) are tokens that maintain a stable value by being backed by fiat currencies and are used for payments.
The EBA’s regulatory guidance package consists of technical standards for ART and EMT issuers, which include:
- setting requirements for issuers to adjust their funds to 3% of their average asset reserve;
- criteria for categorizing companies as “high risk”;
- defining a minimum set of requirements for issuers to develop and implement stress testing programs;
- determination of the minimum number of deposits in each official currency;
- liquidity management techniques to ensure minimum creditworthiness and diversification of bank deposits in the issuers’ reserve;
- determination of the highest quality category of liquid assets according to the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR);
- describing the procedure for identifying, measuring, and managing liquidity risks;
- defining the format and content of the recovery plan that issuers must develop and adhere to.
All technical standards and guidelines were developed closely with the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Central Bank (ECB). Digital asset service providers must bring their firms into compliance with the new requirements by July 1, 2026.
The MiCA bill was approved by the European Parliament in 2023 and will fully come into force by the end of this year, while investors will only be able to receive full protection in 2026. In this regard, many EU countries are harmonizing their regulatory norms with MiCA. At the same time, the package of regulatory restrictions for issuers of stablecoins under the bill continues to grow.
