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• ESMA Opinion on the Treatment of Stablecoins That Do Not Comply with MiCAR

ESMA Opinion on the Treatment of Stablecoins That Do Not Comply with MiCAR

23.10.26
Supervision and Regulation

As early as January 17, 2025, ESMA had issued a statement regardingthe treatment of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs)—so-called stablecoins—that are not MiCAR-compliant.

An ESMA opinion published on October 8, 2026, has now clarified ESMA’s expectations on this matter. Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) authorized under MiCAR should, in principle, no longer provide crypto-asset services related to non-MiCAR-compliant ARTs and EMTs. Only very limited services remain permissible, provided they are necessary for the orderly settlement of existing positions. This applies to all MiCAR services.

National supervisory authorities are required to ensure that CASPs do not provide their clients with access to such tokens through their services. To this end, appropriate technical, contractual, and organizational controls must be put in place, specifically to prevent clients from acquiring or increasing positions in such tokens. Existing positions must be settled as soon as possible, but no later than three months after the publication of the opinion, i.e., by January 8, 2027. The continuation of existing services shall be permitted only for the settlement of these positions.

The FMA will take the ESMA Opinion into account in its supervisory activities.

• ESMA sets out supervisory expectations on services related to unauthorised stablecoins

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