On 10 June 2025, the European Banking Authority (EBA) issued an Opinion (No Action letter) clarifying the interplay between Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and Directive (EU) 2015/2366 on Payment Services in the internal market (PSD2), in relation to Crypto-Asset Service Providers (CASPs) that transact with Electronic Money Tokens (EMTs).
Brief Summary of the Regime Overlap
As per the Opinion, EMTs have a dual nature, being at the same time crypto-assets under MiCA and “funds” within the meaning of PSD2. Therefore, this raises a dual authorisation requirement where a CASP (under MiCA) that provides services related to EMTs that qualify as ‘payment services’ must either be authorised as a Payment Service Provider (“PSP”) or partner with a PSP that is authorised to provide the respective services.
EBA Opinion – Short-Term Advice
The Opinion provides specific advice to NCAs regarding the approach they should take in the short term, i.e. the period of 2-3 years during which PSD2 still applies (referred to as the “intervening period”), until the application date of the Payment Services Regulation (PSR) and the transposition date of the future PSD3.
Therefore, for the intervening period, the EBA advises National Competent Authorities (NCAs):
- To regard the transfer of crypto-assets as a payment service under PSD2 where they entail EMTs and are carried out by entities on behalf of their clients;
- To regard the custody and administration of EMTs as a payment service under PSD2;
- and to regard a custodial wallet as a payment account under the PSD2 where the wallet is held in the name of one or more clients and allows the user to send and receive EMTs to and from third parties.
As the above services are to be considered within the scope of PSD2, the Opinion advises NCAs to require an authorisation under PSD2 through streamlined application procedures that make maximum use of information that legal entities have already provided during their CASP authorisation under MiCA. NCAs are further advised to grant applicants a transition period until 1 March 2026 to hold PSD2 authorisation (or partner with a PSP); from 2 March 2026 NCAs should prevent non-authorised/non-partnered entities from offering EMT payment services.
NCAs are further advised, once authorisation as a PSP is granted, to de-prioritise the supervision and enforcement of some PSD2 provisions, such as safeguarding, the disclosure of information to consumers pertaining to the level of applicable charges, the maximum execution time of payment transactions, unique identifier (e.g., IBAN), and Open Banking.
On the other hand, NCAs are advised to prioritise the supervision of elements such as:
- The application of strong customer authentication (SCA) to the accessing of custodial wallets and the initiation of EMT transfers,
- Fraud reporting, and
- The cumulative calculation of own funds.
However, the EBA acknowledges that the industry will require some time for the required technological implementation and therefore advises NCAs to temporarily de-prioritise the supervision and enforcement of SCA and fraud reporting requirements until 2 March 2026, thus resulting in a transitional period during which the industry is in a position to take the steps necessary for compliance.
Moreover, NCAs are advised not to prioritise the supervision and enforcement of Directive 2014/92/EU (the Payment Accounts Directive (PAD)) in relation to custodial wallets.
Exchange Services
The “exchange of crypto-assets for funds” and the “exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets” as defined under Article 3(1) of MiCA, are not deemed by the EBA to be payment services, and therefore do not fall subject to the application of PSD2. Further to this, the EBA advises NCAs not to regard as a payment service, cases where CASPs intermediate the purchase of any crypto-assets with EMTs, and therefore not to enforce the application of PSD2 nor require authorisation under PSD2 in such cases.
The EBA’s approach seeks to result in a large number of EMT transactions not to be subject to PSD2 during the intervening period, aiming to keep at a minimum the types of EMT transactions regarded as payment services under PSD2, during the intervening period, alleviating the burden of dual authorisation requirements on CASPs which would impose a disproportionate compliance burden, until the PSD3 & PSR apply.
Long-Term Advice
The EBA is of the view that any given financial activity should be regulated by one piece of financial services law and that the applicability of several laws to the same activity should be avoided, especially in circumstances where additional authorisation requirements are created, raising disproportionate regulatory burdens on market participants.
The EBA Opinion therefore addresses this issue by providing advice to the EU Commission, EU Council and EU Parliament on how this can be resolved in the long term, by making use of the ongoing legislative process of PSD3 & PSR to amend and strengthen MiCA, or where this is not feasible to take the alternative of retaining services with EMTs qualifying as payment services within the scope of PSD3/PSR but to achieve this in a way that avoids an undesirable second authorisation under PSD3/PSR, the PSD3/PSR would have to take the unusual step of setting out requirements for CASPs without requiring CASPs to be authorised under PSD3/PSR.
Conclusion
The EBA’s Opinion provides regulatory clarity for CASPs operating in the EMT space, while providing the market a much-needed transition period. By focusing supervision on key risk areas and providing regulatory clarity, the Opinion strikes a balance between fostering innovation and maintaining financial stability.
This is a pivotal development for CASPs, compliance teams, legal advisors, and regulators across Europe—and one that will shape how EMTs are treated in the evolving EU financial ecosystem.
What CASPs should do now (next steps)?
- Map your EMT activities. Classify each flow: custody/administration, transfer on behalf of clients, custodial wallets that send/receive to third parties, exchange (↔ funds/↔ crypto), or intermediating purchases using EMTs. This determines whether PSD2 applies during the intervening period.
- Choose your path: licence or partnership. If you hold/transfer EMTs or run custodial wallets, plan to obtain PSD2 authorisation (or contract with an authorised PSP)—and document the split of responsibilities, SLAs, and liability.
- Hit the dates. Aim to hold PSD2 authorisation (or have a PSP partnership in force) by 1 March 2026. From 2 March 2026, do not offer EMT services that qualify as payment services unless authorised/partnered.
- Prioritise core controls. Build SCA for wallet access and EMT transfers, establish fraud monitoring and reporting, and set up cumulative own-funds calculations. Use the interim to test and harden these controls.
- Plan for de-prioritised areas (still prepare). Safeguarding, transparency/charges & execution time, unique identifier (e.g., IBAN), and Open Banking are de-prioritised in the interim—but draft policies/procedures so you can scale up supervision later.
- Treat custodial wallets like payment accounts. Update client T&Cs, customer journeys, complaint handling, and logging accordingly; ensure SCA and access controls are embedded.
- If you only exchange or intermediate purchases with EMTs. Document the rationale that these are not PSD2 payment services in the interim; implement scope-change triggers so new features don’t accidentally tip you into PSD2.
- Engage your NCA early. Request a streamlined application (re-use your MiCA file), share your EMT flow map and PSD2/MiCA gap analysis, and agree on timelines and supervisory expectations.
How MAP S.Platis can assist you?
Contact us for more information on our CASP and PSD2 Advisory services.
At MAP S.Platis we specialise, among others, in assisting regulated entities to overcome compliance challenges, especially during periods of regulatory change.
Whether you are already engaging in EMT related services or planning to do so, we provide tailored solutions to help you achieve compliance with the latest regulatory standards and supervisory expectations.
Our expert team can support you with:
- Preparation of regulatory GAP Analysis reports of your current and planned activities involving EMTs, under MiCA to identify potential overlaps with PSD2 obligations.
- Strategic licensing advice on whether to pursue CASP / PSD2 authorisation (with full support on the application process should you decide to proceed with it) or alternatively to help you structure partnerships with authorised PSPs.
- End-to-end support with emerging regulatory and reporting obligations related to EMT activities.
- Policy and procedure development—reviewing, drafting, or adapting compliance frameworks, procedures and processes in relation to EMTs, including the preparation for temporarily deprioritised areas.
- Ongoing compliance advisory throughout the MiCA, PSD3 and PSR transition and implementation period, and post implementation support.
Contact us today to discover how our advisory services can help you achieve your regulatory compliance goals. Please fill in the form below and a member of our team will get in contact with you.