MiCA | Spatial Scope Of Application

As a further part of our newsletter series on the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA), we deal with the market location principle applicable under MiCA, which defines the geographic scope of application.

The aim of the market location principle is to create harmonized, fair competition within the entire market and to limit the possibilities of circumventing the regulatory regime by establishing branches outside the EU.

Accordingly, MiCA does not only cover companies that provide relevant services through companies based or established within the EU. Rather, MiCA also extends its scope of application to service providers from third countries, provided that their activities relate to the EU market, and subjects their services to the MiCA regime and the supervision of ESMA, EBA and the local supervisory authorities of the Member States. Issuers of utility tokens or asset referenced tokens, for example, are therefore already subject to the MiCA authorization