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ARTICLE · 23 OCTOBER 2025

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Demystifying ESMA's Latest MiCA Q&As: Clarification Or Reinterpretation?

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The European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") has recently released two new Q&As under Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation ("MiCA")...

MaltaTechnology
Galyna Podoprikhina
Galyna Podoprikhina
Gaby Zammit
Gaby Zammit
Nicholas Scerri
Nicholas Scerri
Maria Gatt
Maria Gatt
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These Q&As go beyond mere clarification. They show how ESMA and national competent authorities ("NCAs") intend to apply MiCA in practice, shaping the authorisation, supervision, and day-to-day compliance expectations for Crypto-Asset Service Providers ("CASPs") and crypto-asset offerors.

Q&A 2653 – Distinguishing execution, RTO and exchange services

Q&A 2653 helps CASPs determine whether their activities amount to:

  1. Execution of orders on behalf of clients – the CASP acts as an agent, concluding contracts for clients without using its own capital. This includes cases where the CASP executes orders directly with another counterparty or through a trading platform.
  2. Reception and transmission of orders ("RTO") – the CASP forwards client orders to another entity for execution, acting purely as an intermediary, without itself trading or using proprietary capital.

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