CLASSIFICATION OF CRYPTO ASSETS UNDER MICAR – by Natalia Łątka

MiCAR groups crypto assets into 3 main categories, namely E-Money Tokens, Asset-Referenced Tokens, and Other Crypto Assets.

• E-Money Tokens aim to stabilise their value by referencing only one official currency. The function of such crypto-assets is very similar to the function of electronic money as defined in Directive 2009/110/EC. Like electronic money, such crypto-assets are electronic surrogates for coins and banknotes and are likely to be used for making payments. Those crypto-assets should be defined in this Regulation as e-money tokens.
• Asset-Referenced Tokens aim to stabilise their value by referencing another value or right, or combination thereof, including one or several official currencies. This type cover all other crypto assets, other than e-money tokens, whose value is backed by assets, so as to avoid circumvention and to make this Regulation future-proof.
• Other Crypto Assets other than asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens, and covers a wide variety of crypto-assets, including utility tokens. The “other crypto assets” category is a catch-all group for assets that don’t meet the criteria for EMTs or ARTs. This group may include crypto assets such as cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, or NFTs.