Welcome to the May 2026 edition of MiCA to RegRally: The Crypto Guide. This month’s developments confirm that the crypto regulatory landscape is entering a decisive implementation phase across both the EU and the UK. Supervisors are moving from framework-building to active enforcement, licensing expansion, and practical interpretation of how digital assets fit within existing financial services rules.
Across Europe, MiCA license authorisations continue to accelerate, while ESMA has made clear that the 1 July 2026 transitional deadline is a hard stop for unauthorised providers. At the same time, the European Commission is issuing important clarifications on passporting, token issuance, exchange classifications, and disclosure obligations—providing greater certainty for banks, EMIs, CASPs, and token issuers navigating the new regime.
In parallel, the UK FCA is signalling a pragmatic innovation-focused approach by opening a clear pathway for fund tokenisation under existing rules. For market participants, the message is clear: 2026 is the year to move from strategy to execution, ensuring licensing, governance, product structuring, and cross-border models are fully aligned with the rapidly maturing digital asset regulatory environment.
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- FCA Opens Path for Fund Tokenisation Under Existing UK Rules
- MiCA Authorisations Continue Across Europe in April 2026
- ESMA Confirms End of MiCA Transitional Period on 1 July 2026
- European Commission Clarifies Passporting Rules for ART and EMT Issuers
- European Commission Clarifies EMT-to-Crypto Exchanges Under MiCA
- European Commission Clarifies White Paper Publication Duty for Exempt ART Issuers
FCA Opens Path for Fund Tokenisation Under Existing UK Rules
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published PS26/7 and accompanying guidance confirming that asset managers can use distributed ledger technology (DLT) for fund tokenisation within the current regulatory framework, without requiring new legislation.
Key takeaways:
- tokenised fund structures may operate under existing rules;
- both private and public blockchain models are permitted where appropriate controls are in place;
- The FCA recognises tokenisation as a tool to reduce operational costs and improve market access.
A notable innovation is the new optional Direct to Fund (D2F) model, which allows investors to transact directly with a fund—traditional or tokenised—potentially reducing intermediary layers and increasing transaction efficiency.
The publication signals a pragmatic UK approach to digital asset innovation and sets out a roadmap for future development of tokenised investment funds.
Asset managers, fund administrators, and firms with UK operations or UK-facing fund structures should review PS26/7 to assess how current or planned tokenisation activities fit within the new framework – particularly regarding public blockchain use conditions and the D2F model.
Source: fca.org.uk
MiCA Authorisations Continue Across Europe in April 2026
Four crypto-asset service providers received MiCA authorisation or updated registration confirmations during April 2026, highlighting continued momentum in the EU licensing regime.
Newly authorised/updated firms:
- Northstake ApS (Denmark) – authorised for custody and administration, order execution, and transfer services, with passporting across the full EEA (30 states).
- Electrocoin Ltd (Croatia) – authorised for custody, exchange for funds, and crypto-to-crypto exchange, with full EEA passporting.
- Validvent Technology GmbH (Germany) – authorised for crypto-asset advice, passporting to 16 selected EU member states.
- ClearBank Europe N.V. (Netherlands) – authorised for order execution, reception/transmission of orders, and transfer services, with passporting limited to the Netherlands.
The trend confirms that MiCA is moving from a framework to active market implementation, with firms increasingly using the EU passport to scale cross-border regulated crypto services.
Firms operating crypto-asset services in the EU should monitor the ESMA CASP register to track the competitive landscape and passporting activity. Those not yet authorised under MiCA should assess their compliance timeline. Contact the Ecovis team for guidance on MiCA authorisation strategy.
Source: esma.europa.eu
ESMA Confirms End of MiCA Transitional Period on 1 July 2026
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) confirmed that the MiCA transitional period ends across the EU on 1 July 2026. After that date, crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) operating without authorisation must cease offering services to EU clients.
Key regulatory expectations:
- Unauthorised CASPs must have immediate wind-down plans, including orderly client offboarding to authorised providers or self-hosted wallets.
- Authorised CASPs must complete client migration processes and ensure outsourcing or custody delegation arrangements involve only MiCA-authorised entities.
- Third-country firms remain prohibited from actively soliciting or serving EU clients outside the narrow reverse solicitation exemption, including certain B2B scenarios.
ESMA expects national competent authorities to actively enforce the deadline. ESMA also issued a consumer warning urging investors to verify providers through the ESMA Interim MiCA Register before using crypto services.
CASPs operating under transitional arrangements must treat 1 July 2026 as a hard deadline to stop unlicensed activities.
Source: esma.europa.eu
European Commission Clarifies Passporting Rules for ART and EMT Issuers
The European Commission confirmed that credit institutions (CIs) and electronic money institutions (EMIs) issuing asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) or e-money tokens (EMTs) on a cross-border basis must use existing sectoral passporting regimes rather than any separate MiCA passporting process.
Key clarifications:
- Credit institutions: cross-border issuance follows the CRD framework (Directive 2013/36/EU). This reflects Article 146 MiCA, which added EMT/ART issuance to Annex I CRD as a mutually recognised activity.
- E-money institutions: cross-border EMT issuance follows the Electronic Money Directive (EMD) passporting regime. Article 48(3) MiCA incorporates Titles II and III of the EMD, meaning the Article 3(4) passport procedure applies.
Practical takeaway: MiCA did not replace existing passporting systems for banks and EMIs. Firms must continue using their established CRD or EMD notification processes when expanding token issuance across the EU.
CIs and EMIs issuing or planning to issue ARTs or EMTs cross-border should ensure their passporting notifications are submitted under the applicable sectoral framework (CRD or EMD) rather than under MiCAR.
Businesses should review existing passporting arrangements and update or initiate notifications where cross-border token issuance is already underway or imminent ahead of the 1 July 2026 MiCA deadline.
Source: eba.europa.eu
European Commission Clarifies EMT-to-Crypto Exchanges Under MiCA
The European Commission clarified that exchanging e-money tokens (EMTs) for other crypto-assets is treated as a crypto-to-crypto exchange under MiCA, not as an exchange of funds for crypto-assets.
Although EMTs are deemed electronic money—and therefore “funds”—under Article 48(2) MiCA, the decisive factor is that EMTs are also classified as a type of crypto-asset under Article 3(1)(7) MiCA.
Key consequence:
- for the purpose of qualifying crypto-asset services, EMTs must be treated as crypto-assets;
- Therefore, CASPs facilitating EMT exchanges are not automatically considered to be handling “funds” for third parties solely because EMTs are involved.
Practical PSD2 impact: a CASP intermediating EMT-to-crypto exchanges would not need separate PSD2 authorisation on that basis alone, absent other regulated payment activities.
CASPs offering or planning to offer EMT-to-crypto exchange services should apply the crypto-asset-for-crypto-asset qualification when assessing their MiCAR service scope.
Any residual PSD2 analysis should focus on whether the specific business model involves fund collection for third parties on grounds other than the EMT characterisation itself.
Source: eba.europa.eu
European Commission Clarifies White Paper Publication Duty for Exempt ART Issuers
The European Commission confirmed that Article 28 MiCA, governing publication of crypto-asset white papers by asset-referenced token (ART) issuers, also applies to issuers benefiting from the Article 16(2) authorisation exemption.
Although Article 28 expressly refers to white papers approved under Articles 17(1) or 21(1) MiCA, the Commission clarified that exemption from authorisation does not remove the obligation to publish the white paper.
Practical effect:
- exempt ART issuers that notify a white paper to their national competent authority (NCA) must still make that document publicly available;
- the publication duty extends to customers and other relevant stakeholders;
- authorisation relief does not equate to disclosure relief.
This reinforces MiCA’s transparency principle: even exempt issuers remain subject to meaningful market disclosure obligations.
ART issuers relying on the Article 16(2) exemption should ensure their white papers are published in accordance with Article 28 MiCAR, including making them available to customers and relevant stakeholders.
Source: eba.europa.eu
Inga Karulaitytė-Kvainauskienė is an attorney-at-law, Partner, and Head of Banking, Finance & FinTech. She is a top-tier expert in FinTech and digital finance regulation in Lithuania and the Baltics. With more than 20 years of experience, she is ranked in FinTech Legal by Chambers and Partners FinTech (2020–2026) and ranked as a Highly Regarded lawyer in Banking and Finance by IFLR1000, Chambers and Partners, and The Legal 500 (2019–2026).
Inga is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), a Certified Global Sanctions Risk Management Specialist, a certified board member (Corporate Governance Certificate by BICG), and a Certified Internal Auditor.
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