The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) has issued Circular C715, announcing the adoption of ESMA’s Guidelines on the conditions and criteria for the qualification of crypto-assets as financial instruments, under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
These Guidelines, issued by ESMA on 19 March 2025, aim to create a consistent and harmonised approach across the EU to determining when a crypto-asset qualifies as a financial instrument, specifically under Article 2(4)(a) of the MiCA Regulation.
CySEC’s Circular C715 addresses:
- Offerors of crypto-assets (excluding ARTs and EMTs)
- Issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs)
- Crypto-asset service providers.(CASPs)
The Guidelines clarify how Article 2(5) of MiCA should be applied, providing detailed conditions and criteria for qualification. They also include practical examples and clarifications on the characteristics of utility tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and hybrid tokens.
Entities operating in the crypto-asset sector are strongly encouraged to review CySEC’s Circular and ESMA’s Guidelines carefully to ensure regulatory compliance under MiCA.
The Guidelines apply 60 calendar days from their publication on ESMA’s website in all official EU languages.
For full details, read the CySEC’s Circular C715 here
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