What is MiCA?
MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, EU 2023/1114) is the European Union’s single rulebook for crypto-assets. It replaces the patchwork of national regimes (registrations like Portugal’s VASP list or France’s PSAN) with one harmonised framework across all member states. The regulation entered into force in June 2023; its stablecoin rules applied from 30 June 2024 and the service-provider regime from 30 December 2024, with national transition periods running until 1 July 2026 at the latest.
The three pillars
(1) Issuance — offering a crypto-asset to the EU public requires a compliant whitepaper with prescribed disclosures and liability. (2) Stablecoins — asset-referenced tokens (ART) and e-money tokens (EMT) face authorisation, reserve and redemption rules, with stricter treatment for “significant” tokens. (3) Services — a single CASP authorisation covers custody, exchange, trading platforms, advice and other listed services, with minimum capital of €50k, €125k or €150k by class and EU-wide passporting.
Who it binds
Any firm providing crypto-asset services to clients in the EU — wherever it is established. The reverse-solicitation exception is deliberately narrow. Genuinely unique NFTs and sufficiently decentralised protocols sit largely outside scope for now, though the perimeter is under review.
Türkiye context
Türkiye regulates crypto asset service providers under Law No. 7518, which amended the Capital Markets Law and put licensing under the CMB (SPK). The Turkish regime is narrower than MiCA — it has no stablecoin-issuance pillar and no passporting. A Turkish platform serving EU users therefore needs a MiCA CASP authorisation in a member state; neither licence substitutes for the other. Related: stablecoin, Travel Rule.