When each part started
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 was signed in Brussels on May 31, 2023 and published in the EU’s Official Journal on June 9, 2023. It switched on in stages, according to Article 149 of the regulation’s text.
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| June 29, 2023 | Entry into force |
| June 30, 2024 | Rules for asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens (Titles III and IV) apply |
| December 30, 2024 | The rest applies, including the licensing of crypto-asset service providers |
| July 1, 2026 | Latest end of the transition for providers already operating under national law |
The stablecoin chapters came first by six months. Everything else, from white papers for other tokens to the rules for exchanges and custodians, followed at the end of 2024.
What it covers, and what it leaves out
ESMA describes MiCA on its MiCA page as uniform EU market rules for crypto-assets “that are not currently regulated by existing financial services legislation”. Article 2 shuts out tokens that qualify as financial instruments or deposits, as well as those that are unique and not fungible with other crypto-assets. A recital adds that services provided “in a fully decentralised manner without any intermediary” fall outside it too.
Inside that scope, the regulation splits into titles. Title II covers white papers for ordinary tokens. Titles III and IV deal with the two kinds of stablecoin, the asset-referenced token and the e-money token, while Title V governs the firms that provide crypto services to clients.
The register, file by file
ESMA publishes what national regulators report in five downloadable files. The table counts the rows in each file of the update dated November 5, 2026.
| ESMA file | Entries on November 5, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Crypto-asset service providers | 397 rows, for 394 firms |
| White papers for other crypto-assets | 1,071 |
| E-money token white papers | 50, from 25 issuers |
| Issuers of asset-referenced tokens | None |
| Non-compliant entities | 189 |
The empty row stands out. No issuer of an asset-referenced token had been entered by that date.
One law, national choices
Is MiCA something each country writes into its own law? No. Article 149 says it is “binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States”. Governments did get one real choice, the length of the transition for firms already operating, and ESMA’s list of grandfathering periods shows how far apart they landed.
The Netherlands and Finland were among six countries that allowed six months, while Germany and Ireland allowed 12 and France took the full 18. ESMA notes that some of the periods it lists reflected what national authorities expected at the time rather than law they had already passed.
Compared with the US and the UK
The US GENIUS Act, signed on July 18, 2025, is narrower. Its own description is an act “to provide for the regulation of payment stablecoins”, and it takes effect 18 months after enactment or 120 days after regulators issue final rules, whichever comes first. The OCC’s final rule puts that date at January 18, 2027.
Britain’s regulations cover more ground, from issuing stablecoins to running trading platforms and offering staking. The FCA says its cryptoasset rules, resting on regulations made on February 4, 2026, are expected to come into force on October 25, 2027.
MiCA itself is already under review. The European Banking Authority sent its response to the European Commission’s targeted consultation on the review on September 24, 2026.