The EU markets regulator wants authorised crypto firms to stop facilitating access to non-compliant stablecoins. Its expectations cover custody and transfers as well as trading.
The European Securities and Markets Authority has called on authorised crypto-asset service providers to stop providing EU clients with services involving stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA. Its October 8 announcement goes beyond removing trading pairs: firms are expected to prevent access through their other services too.
Three months to resolve existing holdings
National supervisors should require remaining legacy exposures to be resolved as soon as possible. The outer limit is three months from publication of the opinion, which falls on January 8, 2027. That date does not give firms permission to carry on business as usual until then.
Limited services may continue where clients need them to exit without suffering harm. They include selling, converting, withdrawing, transferring or safeguarding existing holdings. National authorities must closely supervise those arrangements, and firms should clearly communicate their duration and terms to clients.
The transition does not allow new purchases. It is intended to help clients dispose of or withdraw existing assets, rather than sustain promotion, active distribution or increases in their positions.
Custody and transfers are also covered
ESMA’s five-page opinion covers trading platforms, exchange services, execution of orders, reception and transmission of orders, placement of crypto-assets, investment advice, transfers, custody and portfolio management. Supervisors are asked to assess whether services, individually or together, provide access to non-compliant tokens. Firms are also expected to put technical, contractual and organisational access controls in place.
The regulator argues that a service provider’s risk warning cannot replace missing protections at the token issuer. It points to redemption rights, reserve or safeguarding requirements, governance duties and ongoing supervision. Obtaining a client’s acknowledgement of the risks would not resolve those concerns either, in ESMA’s view.
The document does not name particular stablecoins or exchanges. Its test is whether an asset-referenced token (ART) or e-money token (EMT) meets MiCA’s conditions for a lawful public offering or admission to trading in the EU.
A supervisory opinion building on the 2025 guidance
The stablecoin provisions in the EU’s MiCA crypto regulatory framework have applied since June 30, 2024. In a January 17, 2025 answer, the European Commission explained that listing tokens whose issuers lack the required authorisation amounts to seeking admission to trading. Certain other services may constitute a public offering depending on how they promote the assets.
ESMA’s statement published the same day called for compliance no later than the end of the first quarter of 2025. The new opinion is not a general postponement of that deadline. It examines whether providing services is compatible with an authorised firm’s duty to act in clients’ best interests, regardless of whether each service qualifies as a public offering.
The opinion is addressed primarily to national supervisory authorities. It was not presented as a new EU law or a worldwide ban on owning tokens. The closure of individual services and the arrangements for customers to exit will depend on the process their provider carries out under supervision.
