MiCA glossary: CASP, EMT, ART and the terms in the register

The long guides develop each idea. This glossary only fixes the word and the place to read on, so the definition is not repeated on every page. The base text is Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.

CASP

A crypto-asset service provider: a legal person or other undertaking whose occupation is the provision of one or more crypto-asset services to clients on a professional basis, and that is allowed to do so in accordance with Article 59. On this site, “MiCA licence” names that authorisation. The long piece is the licence guide. How it is applied for, where the registered office is in Spain, is in the application guide.

EMT and ART

An e-money token (EMT) purports to maintain a stable value by referencing one official currency. An asset-referenced token (ART) is not an EMT and purports to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right, or a combination, including several currencies. They are not CASP service letters. The guide is stablecoins, EMTs and ARTs.

LEI

The legal entity identifier, 20 characters under ISO 17442. Article 62 asks for it in the application. In the ESMA file it is the *ae_lei* cell. It is checked on the GLEIF register, as the checklist explains.

Competent authority (NCA)

The authority each state designates under Article 93. It is not ESMA: ESMA publishes what the authorities notify. On rows with a Spanish home state, the file names the CNMV. The map is in licence by country.

Home state, host state and the passport

For a CASP, home is the state of the registered office. Host is where it provides services, if different. The Article 65 passport is the notification that allows those notified services to be provided there, without a second authorisation. The guide is the passport.

White paper

The document the regulation requires to be drawn up, notified and published in order to offer certain crypto-assets to the public, in Articles 6, 8 and 9 for tokens that are not EMTs or ARTs, and in Titles III and IV for those tokens. It is not the exchange’s authorisation. A CASP row does not stand in for the token’s white paper.

Services a to j

The closed list in Article 3(1)(16): custody, a trading platform, exchange for funds, exchange for other crypto-assets, execution, placing, reception and transmission, advice, portfolio management and transfers. The guide that sets them out is CASP services. Lending is not on the list: lending and earn. Staking as a service rests on custody: staking.

Transitional period and the Bank of Spain register

The Article 143(3) transitional period was a window, not an authorisation. The guide that cites the CNMV is the transitional period. The Law 10/2010 register was an anti-money-laundering entry, closed on 1 July 2026, and not that authorisation: the Bank of Spain register.

Travel Rule and self-custody

The Union Travel Rule is Regulation (EU) 2023/1113. The concept is in the blog. An address that is not a provider’s, and the €1,000 threshold, are in self-custody and the Travel Rule.

Form 721, DAC8 and the income-tax return

Form 721 is the informative return for virtual currencies abroad, not Form 720. DAC8 is the exchange of information between tax administrations from 1 January 2026. The income-tax return is the taxpayer’s declaration. Each has a guide: Form 721, the calendar and the 2027 checklist.

The names of firms do not live in the glossary. They live in the file and on the home page. Counts for the loaded cut are on register data.

Common questions