The MiCA Act is Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, the EU's single, directly applicable rulebook for crypto-assets. A "MiCA licence" usually means authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) under Article 59. Asset-referenced token issuers need authorisation under Article 21; e-money token issuers must be a credit institution or e-money institution (Article 48). A VASP is different: a FATF anti-money-laundering term, not an EU licence.
Four numbers to know before you read MiCA
Not sure which licence type fits your model? Start with licence selection. This page covers the step before it in the EU: where the text is, how it is organised, and why a VASP registration is not a CASP licence. For the ten crypto-asset services and their capital, read which CASP services you trigger.
Key points
- MiCA has nine Titles and 149 articles; service providers live in Title V (Articles 59 to 85).
- Crypto-asset services in the EU need CASP authorisation or another status listed in Article 59(1).
- VASP is the FATF's term; EU law uses CASP, and the EU's transfer-of-funds rules borrow MiCA's definition.
- Firms serving clients under a national regime could rely on the transitional period only until 1 July 2026.
On this page8 sections
Where is the official text of the MiCA Act?
On EUR-Lex, under CELEX number 32023R1114. Its full title is Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on markets in crypto-assets, published in OJ L 150, 9.6.2023, pp. 40–205. The permanent link is http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj. Article 149 states that the Regulation is binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States, so there is one text for the whole Union rather than a national version per country.
Read the right version. EUR-Lex marks the act as changed, with a consolidated version dated 9 January 2024 (Regulation 32023R2869 added Article 110a), and lists six corrigenda, 32023R1114R(01) to R(06). Cite the consolidated text, and check the corrigenda whichever language version you read.
What do MiCA's nine Titles cover?
Each range runs from a Title's first article to the article before the next Title.
The structure of MiCA, Title by Title
| Title | Subject | Articles | Read it if you |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Subject matter, scope and definitions | 1 to 3 | need the definitions in Article 3 (everyone) |
| II | Crypto-assets other than asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens | 4 to 15 | offer a token to the public or seek its admission to trading |
| III | Asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) | 16 to 47 | issue an asset-referenced token |
| IV | E-money tokens (EMTs) | 48 to 58 | issue an e-money token |
| V | Authorisation and operating conditions for crypto-asset service providers | 59 to 85 | run an exchange, custody, brokerage or similar service |
| VI | Prevention and prohibition of market abuse | 86 to 92 | operate a trading platform or trade on one |
| VII | Competent authorities, EBA and ESMA | 93 to 138 | want to know who supervises and sanctions |
| VIII | Delegated acts | 139 | track the Commission's power to add detail |
| IX | Transitional and final provisions | 140 to 149 | were operating before the regime applied |
Six annexes follow. Annexes I to III list the disclosure items for the three kinds of white paper; Annex IV sets the minimum capital requirements for crypto-asset service providers (see minimum capital); Annexes V and VI list infringements for issuers of significant ARTs and EMTs.
What is a "MiCA licence", exactly?
No single document carries that name. There are three gateways:
- Service providers: Article 59(1) says no one may provide crypto-asset services in the Union unless authorised as a CASP under Article 63, or unless it is a credit institution, central securities depository, investment firm, market operator, electronic money institution, UCITS management company or alternative investment fund manager allowed to do so under Article 60. Under Article 62(1) the application goes to the competent authority of your home Member State.
- ART issuers: Article 16(1) reserves public offers of asset-referenced tokens to an issuer authorised under Article 21 by its home authority, or a credit institution that complies with Article 17.
- EMT issuers: Article 48(1) requires the issuer to be authorised as a credit institution or an electronic money institution, and to have notified and published a white paper. See EMI vs API vs MPI.
Other tokens differ: Article 4(1) asks a Title II offeror to be a legal person with a white paper drawn up under Article 6, not an authorised issuer. Which kind your token is comes first; see which licence you need to issue a token.
CASP vs VASP: what is the difference?
They come from different rulebooks. VASP, virtual asset service provider, is the FATF's term. The EU's own transfer-of-funds regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, records in its recitals that "The latest changes introduced in June 2019 in the FATF standards on new technologies, with the aim of regulating virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, have provided new and similar obligations for virtual asset service providers". When that same regulation defines who it applies to, it does not use VASP: it takes the CASP definition straight from MiCA Article 3(1)(15).
VASP and CASP side by side
| VASP | CASP | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the term comes from | FATF standards on virtual assets | MiCA, Article 3(1)(15) |
| What it is | A FATF term implemented differently from country to country | A firm authorised, or otherwise allowed, under Article 59 |
| What it historically meant in the EU | Mostly an anti-money-laundering registration | Authorisation with operating conditions under Title V |
| Status after 1 July 2026 | No transitional cover left under Article 143(3) | The only route for firms not otherwise allowed under Article 60 |
The "mostly AML" row comes from MiCA itself. Its fourth recital says that before it "there are no rules, other than those in respect of anti-money laundering, for the provision of services related to such unregulated crypto-assets", and NUR Legal likewise describes VASP as "primarily an anti-money laundering concept". Article 143(3) then let firms serving clients under national law before 30 December 2024 continue until 1 July 2026 at most. For Poland, see is a Polish VASP registration still valid? See also VASP in our glossary.
Which MiCA dates matter?
- 29 June 2023: entry into force, twenty days after publication.
- 30 June 2024: Titles III and IV (ARTs and EMTs) apply, under Article 149(3).
- 30 December 2024: the Regulation applies in full, under Article 149(2).
- 1 July 2026: the outer limit of the Article 143(3) transitional period.
Where is the register of MiCA-licensed firms?
Articles 109 and 110 empower ESMA to publish a central register. Its interim MiCA register is five csv files, and they follow the Titles: white papers (Title II), ART issuers (Title III), EMT issuers (Title IV), authorised CASPs (Title V) and non-compliant entities. The page showed a last update of 30 October 2026. It is published weekly, so new authorisations appear with a lag, and a withdrawn authorisation stays listed with its withdrawal date.
We downloaded the files on 3 November 2026. The CASP file held 392 records across 27 home states, 38 of them with an authorisation end date. The EMT file held 50 white-paper records from 25 issuers. The ART file held a header row and no records. How to check one firm properly: how to check a crypto licence is real.
What completes MiCA, and what comes next?
ESMA says the Regulation includes a substantial number of Level 2 and Level 3 measures; EUR-Lex lists 29 acts that complete it, from 32024R1503 to 32025R1264. They change filings: white paper formatting, including iXBRL, has applied since 23 December 2025.
Revision is built in. Under Article 140(1) the Commission must report on the Regulation's application by 30 June 2027, with a legislative proposal where appropriate, after an interim report due by 30 June 2025. Article 142 required a report by 30 December 2024 on matters MiCA does not address, including decentralised finance.
Common questions
Can a firm keep operating on a VASP registration from before MiCA?
Not any more. Article 143(3) allowed it until 1 July 2026 at the latest. Since then, providing crypto-asset services in the Union needs CASP authorisation or another status listed in Article 59(1).
Is USDT authorised under MiCA?
Not as of our check: the EMT file of ESMA's interim register, downloaded on 3 November 2026, contained no Tether or USDT entry. Under Article 48, an e-money token can be offered to the public in the EU only by an issuer authorised as a credit institution or an electronic money institution, and those issuers appear in that file. Search the latest file for the issuer's name before relying on any listing.
Do I need a MiCA licence to issue a token?
It depends on the token. An ART issuer needs authorisation under Article 21, unless it is a credit institution that complies with Article 17. An EMT issuer must be authorised as a credit institution or electronic money institution and notify a white paper (Article 48). For other crypto-assets, Article 4 requires the offeror to be a legal person with a white paper.
Based on EUR-Lex and ESMA sources retrieved on 3 November 2026; general information, not legal advice. CryptoLicense is a brand of CL GLOBAL SDN BHD (1421939-T); its crypto licence work includes CASP (MiCA) applications in Latvia and Malta. Whether a licence is granted, and how long a regulator takes, is entirely at the regulator's discretion and we promise neither. See jurisdictions and entity proof.