GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN & WEB3
Crypto-asset
What a crypto-asset is under MiCA: the legal definition, the three types (asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens and other crypto-assets).
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What is a crypto-asset?
The definition comes from the MiCA Regulation and organizes the market into three categories: e-money tokens (EMT, referencing a single official currency: euro or dollar stablecoins), asset-referenced tokens (ART, referencing baskets of currencies, commodities or other assets) and other crypto-assets (bitcoin, ether, utility and governance tokens). Each category has its own issuance, whitepaper and supervision regime, and providing services on them requires authorization as a CASP. More on this in digital assets.
What is NOT a crypto-asset in legal terms: a security token or any token representing a transferable security (shares, bonds, notes) falls outside MiCA and inside MiFID II and securities law — even though technically it is a token all the same. That boundary decides which license you need, and we explain it in tokenized securities vs crypto-assets.
Learn more: MiCA license in Spain (CASP): CNMV requirements and timelines
Explained simply
A crypto-asset is a digital representation of a value or of a right that can be transferred and stored using distributed ledger technology (blockchain). It is the legal term the European Union uses: it covers cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, stablecoins, utility tokens and many others — but not tokenized shares or bonds, which remain transferable securities.
Crypto-asset: key points
- Digital representation of a transferable value or right on a blockchain (MiCA definition)
- Three categories: e-money tokens, asset-referenced tokens and other crypto-assets
- Providing services on them requires CASP authorization
- Tokenized securities are NOT crypto-assets: they fall under MiFID II
Crypto-asset: advantages
- Single European framework with passporting across Member States
- Clear definition ordering issuance and services
- Transferable and programmable on public infrastructure
Crypto-asset: disadvantages
- The boundary with securities requires case-by-case analysis
- Whitepaper and authorization duties to issue and operate
- Volatility and risk specific to each category