Spain brings forward the implementation of the world's first crypto-assets market regulation

The First Vice-President and acting Minister for the Economy and Digital Transformation, Nadia Calviño, met with the President of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), Verena Ross, with whom she discussed the situation of the financial system and the regulation of the crypto-assets market, conveying Spain's proposal in this area.

Once the regulation is published, member states must decide on the period of application of the rule in each country, because if no decision is taken, the regulation will apply from July 2026 for crypto-asset service providers, with a total transitional period of up to 36 months.

With the decision adopted by Spain there will be a transitional period of 18 months, from the publication of the regulation in June this year, during which ESMA and the European Banking Authority (EBA) will approve technical standards for the implementation of MiCA, and a subsequent period of one year during which the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) will be able to start granting authorisations to companies that want to provide cryptoasset services, shortening the total period by six months.

This option, which is in line with ESMA's request to member states, allows the implementation of MiCA in Spain to be brought forward, enabling the CNMV to start supervision earlier, which will provide legal certainty and greater protection for Spanish investors in this type of assets.

MiCA regulation

The MiCA regulation is the first global standard that regulates the crypto-asset market from a holistic perspective, establishing obligations for both issuers and crypto-asset service providers.

Crypto-assets covered by current legislation (crypto-assets that have the status of financial instrument, deposit, etc.), single non-fungible crypto-assets (NFTs) and the issuance of decentrally generated crypto-assets (such as Bitcoin) are outside MiCA's scope, although their trading on a platform would be regulated under MiCA.

Furthermore, MiCA does not include aspects relating to decentralised finance (DeFi), such as decentralised lending.

Issuers of crypto-assets must be licensed legal persons, submit a white paper and be subject to a set of prudential, corporate governance and investor protection rules. In addition, specific rules are introduced to mitigate the liquidity risk associated with crypto-assets and to prevent them from becoming a widely accepted means of payment. For issuers of crypto-assets with a price stabiliser mechanism, MiCA rules will apply from 30 June 2024, as provided for in the regulation.

Crypto-asset service providers (custody, exchange platforms, advice) have similar rules to MiFID investment services firms and must be authorised by the CNMV.

Spain designated the CNMV and the Bank of Spain as competent authorities for the implementation of the MiCA regulation in the Securities Markets and Investment Services Law, published in March 2023.

Non official translation