Art. 2 Indicators for assessing significance on international scale | Criteria for significance classification | MiCA

This article directly supports the EBA's assessment process under Article 43(1), point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, providing the technical methodology the EBA must apply when evaluating the cross-border significance criterion for asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens.

Rather than leaving the assessment open to interpretation, the article prescribes specific core indicators and accompanying mathematical formulas, centred on cross-border transaction volumes and international market capitalisation, that the EBA is required to follow in a structured and consistent way.

Important points:

The EBA is required to assess four core indicators covering cross-border transaction market share and international market capitalisation of the token or its issuer.
The EBA must apply specific ratio-based formulas to calculate both inflow and outflow cross-border transaction market shares, measuring a given token against the total market of all such tokens.
Market capitalisation is assessed at the issuer level as well as the individual token level, measured on the last calendar day of the relevant period.

1. When assessing whether the criterion set out in Article 43(1), point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 is fulfilled, the EBA shall assess all of the following core indicators:
  1. the significance of the market share of value of cross-border transactions in asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens into the Union and from the Union;
  2. the significance of the estimated market share of value of cross-border transactions in asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens into the Union and from the Union that are associated to uses as a means of exchange;
  3. the degree of market capitalisation on an international scale of an asset-referenced token or an e-money token on the last calendar day of the relevant period;
  4. the degree of market capitalisation on an international scale of all asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens issued by the issuer or issuers concerned on the last calendar day of the relevant period.

For the purposes of paragraph 1, point (a), the EBA shall consider all of the following sub-indicators:
1. the market share of value of cross-border transactions in asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens into the Union (inflow transactions);
2. the market share of value of cross-border transactions in asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens from the Union (outflow transactions).

The EBA shall calculate the sub-indicator referred to in the first subparagraph, point (a), in accordance with the following formula:

the total aggregate value of transactions of which the payer is outside the Union and the payee is inside the Union in a given asset-referenced token or e-money token during the relevant period

the total aggregate value of transactions of which the payer is outside the Union and the payee is inside the Union in all asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens during the relevant period

The EBA shall calculate the sub-indicator referred to in the first subparagraph, point (b), in accordance with the following formula:

the total aggregate value of transactions of which the payer is within the Union and the payee is outside the Union in a given asset-referenced token or e-money token during the relevant period

the total aggregate value of transactions of which the payer is within the Union and the payee is outside the Union in all asset-referrenced tokens and e-money tokens during the relevant period

The EBA shall calculate the estimated market share referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), in accordance with the following formula:

the estimated total aggregate value of cross-border transactions in a given asset-referenced token or e-money token into the Union and from the Union that are associated to its uses as a means of exchange during the relevant period

the estimated total aggregate value of cross-border transactions in all asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens into the Union and from the Union that are associated to their uses as a means of exchange during the relevant period)