Art. 23 Restrictions on the issuance of asset-referenced tokens used widely as a means of exchange | MiCA regulation | MiCA

This article establishes a hard usage cap on asset-referenced tokens when they become too widely used as a means of exchange within a single currency area.

It connects directly to the broader regulatory concern — present throughout MiCA — about stablecoins displacing official currencies.

When an asset-referenced token crosses thresholds of 1 million transactions per day and EUR 200 million in aggregate daily value, the issuer must stop issuance and submit a remediation plan.

The article also addresses how the threshold is assessed, including scenarios where multiple issuers issue the same token, and sets out the conditions under which issuance may resume.

Important points:

If an asset-referenced token exceeds 1 million daily transactions and EUR 200 million in daily aggregate value as a means of exchange, stop issuing it and submit a remediation plan to the competent authority within 40 working days.
Competent authorities will use the highest available estimate — from the issuer, their own figures, or those from the ECB or relevant central bank — to determine whether the threshold has been breached.
Competent authorities are required to withhold permission to resume issuance until there is evidence the token's usage as a means of exchange has fallen back below both thresholds.

1. Where, for an asset-referenced token, the estimated quarterly average number and average aggregate value of transactions per day associated to its uses as a means of exchange within a single currency area is higher than 1 million transactions and EUR 200 000 000, respectively, the issuer shall:
  1. stop issuing that asset-referenced token; and
  2. within 40 working days of reaching that threshold, submit a plan to the competent authority to ensure that the estimated quarterly average number and average aggregate value of those transactions per day is kept below 1 million transactions and EUR 200 000 000 respectively.
1. The competent authority shall use the information provided by the issuer, its own estimates, or the estimates provided by the ECB or, where applicable, by the central bank referred to in Article 20(4), whichever is higher, in order to assess whether the threshold referred to in paragraph 1 is reached.
1. Where several issuers issue the same asset-referenced token, the criteria referred in paragraph 1 shall be assessed by the competent authority after aggregating the data from all issuers.
1. The issuer shall submit the plan referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), for approval to the competent authority. Where necessary, the competent authority shall require modifications, such as imposing a minimum denomination amount, in order to ensure a timely decrease of the use as a means of exchange of the asset-referenced token.
1. The competent authority shall only allow the issuer to issue the asset-referenced token again when it has evidence that the estimated quarterly average number and average aggregated value of transactions per day associated to its uses as a means of exchange within a single currency area is lower than 1 million transactions and EUR 200 000 000 respectively.

Article 23 Restrictions on the issuance of asset-referenced tokens used widely as a means of exchange

Relevant recitals