Article 40 Prohibition of granting interest

This article establishes a clear prohibition on the payment of interest in connection with asset-referenced tokens, applying the ban to both issuers of those tokens and crypto-asset service providers when offering related services.

Notably, the article goes further than a simple ban by defining "interest" broadly, ensuring that the prohibition cannot be circumvented through creative structuring.

A mirror provision exists for e-money tokens in Article 50, reflecting a consistent policy approach across stablecoin categories within the regulation.

Important points:

• Do not grant any form of interest on asset-referenced tokens, whether you are an issuer or a crypto-asset service provider offering related services.
• The definition of interest is broad: any remuneration, benefit, discount, or compensation linked to the duration of holding asset-referenced tokens — whether paid directly or via third parties — is treated as interest and is therefore prohibited.
• Crypto-asset service providers are required to observe this prohibition specifically when providing services related to asset-referenced tokens, not crypto-asset services generally.