Article 15 Identification of crypto-assets

To properly monitor the integrity and stability of the markets in crypto-assets, competent authorities need reliable, consistent and standardised information on the crypto-assets that are traded. Such information should enable them to identify the individual crypto-asset being traded according to internationally established principles. In addition, competent authorities should be able to retrieve the main characteristics of the crypto-assets traded, including their technology-specific features. Crypto-asset service providers should therefore use an internationally agreed digital token identifier to identify crypto-assets in the order and transactions records that they provide to competent authorities. The Digital Token Identifier (DTI) managed by the Digital Token Identifier Foundation is an internationally agreed identifier that guarantees reliable, consistent, standardised and available information and allows for comparability and aggregation of information at the level of the European Union, improving the quality and timeliness of aggregated data and reducing the reporting burden for crypto-asset service providers. Therefore, crypto-asset service providers should be able to use the DTI to identify crypto-assets. However, to ensure openness to other token identifiers which may be fit for supervisory purposes and support the integrity of the market, it is necessary to lay down criteria that should be met by those alternative identifiers. To enable the market to use eligible alternative identifiers, ESMA should approve their use where they meet the criteria set out in this Regulation.