Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA): Overview, Scope & Reporting Requirements

Overview

The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) is the European Union’s harmonised regulatory framework for crypto-assets that are not already covered by existing financial services legislation. MiCA aims to establish legal certainty, consumer protection, and market integrity across the EU crypto-asset ecosystem.

MiCA introduces consistent rules for the issuance, offering, and admission to trading of crypto-assets, as well as for the authorisation and supervision of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs). As an EU Regulation, MiCA applies directly across all Member States, replacing fragmented national regimes.

MiCA entered into force in June 2023, with phased application dates from 2024 to 2025, depending on the type of crypto-asset and service.

Legal Context

MiCA is an EU Regulation adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. Its supervisory framework involves multiple EU-level authorities:

• European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) – lead authority for market supervision, transparency, and CASP-related standards

• European Banking Authority (EBA) – oversight of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs), including prudential and governance aspects

Day-to-day supervision and enforcement are carried out by national competent authorities (NCAs) in each Member State, applying MiCA consistently across the EU.

In the United Kingdom, crypto-assets are regulated under a separate and evolving domestic framework overseen by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). MiCA does not apply in the UK, but is often used as a reference point for regulatory alignment.

Applicability

MiCA applies to a wide range of crypto-asset market participants operating within the EU, including:

• Crypto-asset issuers

• Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs)

• Trading platforms for crypto-assets

• Custody and wallet providers

• Exchange, execution, and transfer service providers

• Issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs)

• Issuers of e-money tokens (EMTs)

MiCA does not apply to crypto-assets already regulated as financial instruments under MiFID II, such as tokenised securities.

Obligations

MiCA introduces differentiated obligations depending on the role and activity of the entity, including:

• Authorisation and licensing requirements for CASPs

• Governance and organisational requirements

• Conduct of business rules

• Whitepaper and disclosure obligations for issuers

• Prudential and reserve requirements for certain token issuers

• Market abuse prevention measures

• Ongoing supervisory cooperation and information exchange

These obligations are supported by Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementing Technical Standards (ITS) issued primarily by ESMA and EBA.

Reporting

MiCA introduces multiple ongoing reporting and disclosure obligations, which may include:

• Periodic supervisory reporting by CASPs

• Transaction and activity data submissions

• Incident and operational reporting

• Token issuance and reserve-related disclosures (for ARTs and EMTs)

• Ad hoc information requests from supervisors

While reporting formats vary by obligation, firms must ensure that submitted data is complete, consistent, traceable, and auditable, often across multiple jurisdictions and authorities.

As supervisory expectations mature, firms increasingly face challenges in managing structured regulatory data across systems, products, and service lines.

Reporting

Common implementation challenges include:

• Fragmented crypto-asset activity data across platforms

• Evolving RTS/ITS and supervisory guidance

• Inconsistent internal classification of crypto-assets and services

• Manual preparation of supervisory reports

• Difficulty responding efficiently to supervisory information requests

• Maintaining historical audit trails in fast-moving environments

These challenges are amplified for firms operating across multiple EU jurisdictions.

REGREP Solution

REGREP supports MiCA as a regulatory data and reporting infrastructure, enabling firms to manage and prepare MiCA-related reporting in a structured and controlled manner.

REGREP provides:

• Centralised ingestion of crypto-asset activity and operational data

• Structured data models aligned with supervisory reporting needs

• Validation and consistency controls across reporting datasets

• Support for repeatable, audit-ready report generation

• API-first integration with trading, custody, and operational systems

• Historical traceability of submitted information

REGREP supports the technical preparation and organisation of MiCA reporting data. It does not provide regulatory authorisation, legal advice, or compliance certification.

• European Banking Authority (EBA)

• European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

Links are provided for reference purposes only. REGREP is not affiliated with or endorsed by any regulatory authority.

• Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)

• Investment Firms Regulation & Directive (IFR / IFD)

• Regulatory reporting infrastructure for digital assets

• Data management for supervisory reporting