Europe Goes Crypto, MiCA Whitepaper
MiCA regulation will require crypto providers in the future to meet minimum whitepaper requirements.
MiCA regulation will require crypto providers to meet minimum whitepaper requirements in the future.
To give the European crypto market more certainty and professionalism, the European Union's Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) will not only impose licensing and compliance obligations on crypto-asset providers but also target issuers and providers of crypto assets. Before a crypto asset is publicly offered and listed on crypto trading platforms, the responsible individuals or entities will in the future have to prepare a whitepaper. The whitepaper must include the legally required minimum content before crypto platforms may offer products. In addition to a significant increase in the transparency of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and other token sales, MiCA's drafters aim to significantly strengthen the responsibility of providers of new crypto assets. MiCA's minimum requirements are heavily based on mechanisms known from securities prospectus law.
What must crypto providers publish in the whitepaper?
Crypto-asset providers must give potential investors enough information through the whitepaper to enable them to make informed investment decisions. To do this, they must first disclose information about themselves as a crypto provider and about the creators of the cryptocurrencies they are offering. This includes information about their legal form, contact details, and the individuals responsible for the company and, in the case of listings, the operator of the crypto trading platform.
The whitepaper must also specifically state which rights and obligations are attached to the crypto assets and the technology underlying them. The whitepaper should also provide information about the risks associated with the crypto assets. Finally, providers must state in the whitepaper whether the consensus mechanism underlying the crypto assets has environmental or climate impacts. According to MiCA, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and the European Banking Authority (EBA) will develop technical standards for the individual minimum requirements in the coming months to give the market concrete guidance on what details should be included in whitepapers.
