GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN & WEB3
Whitepaper (MiCA)
What the crypto-asset white paper is under MiCA: mandatory content, notification to the supervisor and the issuer's liability.
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Under MiCA, the whitepaper is a regulated document with mandatory content that the issuer must notify to the supervisor before offering a crypto-asset to the public in the EU, and for which it is legally liable. It requires information on the issuer, the project, the rights and obligations of the token, the underlying technology and the risks.
What is the MiCA whitepaper?
The MiCA crypto-asset white paper requires information on the issuer, the project, the rights and obligations of the token, the underlying technology and the risks — in clear language and without claims about future value that cannot be substantiated. It is notified to the competent authority (in Spain, depending on the crypto-asset, the CNMV or the Bank of Spain) and marketing communications must be consistent with its content — the direct link with the crypto advertising rules.
The usual boundary applies here too: if the token is a financial instrument, no MiCA whitepaper will do — the document is the securities-market prospectus. Classify first, document later: the classifier resolves the doubt in a minute.
Learn more: MiCA license in Spain (CASP): CNMV requirements and timelines
Explained simply
Under MiCA, the whitepaper stopped being the marketing PDF of the ICO era: it is a regulated document with mandatory content that the issuer must notify to the supervisor before offering a crypto-asset to the public in the EU — and for which it is legally liable.
Whitepaper: key points
- Mandatory MiCA document to offer crypto-assets in the EU
- Prescribed content: issuer, project, rights, technology, risks
- Notified to the supervisor; the issuer is liable for its content
- If the token is a security, what applies is a prospectus, not a whitepaper
Whitepaper: advantages
- Consistent, enforceable information for the buyer
- Notification, not prior approval: an agile process
- Disciplines advertising: marketing must be consistent
Whitepaper: disadvantages
- Legal liability for omissions or false statements
- Not a prospectus: less protection than in securities
- Real drafting work that many projects underestimate