The MiCA regulation will take shape according to the EBA’s new guidelines

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has issued comprehensive technical standards and guidelines for Asset-Reference Tokens (ARTs) and E-Money Tokens (EMTs) across Europe in the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). .

The package covers six topics, from stress testing programs and asset inventories to recovery plans. Under MiCA, ARTs are tokens backed by assets such as commodities, real estate, or a basket of different assets, while EMTs hold stable value by being tied to fiat currencies and used as a stable coin for payments.

In particular, the authority provides instructions to token issuers, including the provision of sufficient financial resources (own funds) to cover potential risks. It also creates benchmarks to determine whether an issuer is facing higher risk, which should be added to the fund's own portfolio.

The EBA reports outline the procedure and timeframe for issuers to adjust their own funds to the 3 percent of average assets classified as significant. The implementation plan must be submitted within 25 working days, and compliance must be completed within a maximum of six months.

In addition, the European regulator is setting minimum percentages for asset reserves based on daily and weekly maturities and limiting the concentration of issuers of liquid financial instruments. One of the draft reports says:

“The minimum amount of deposits with credit institutions should be 30% of the specified amount, if the deposit is not significant and the assets related to official currencies, or 60% if the token is necessary, and it is not increased. […]He said.

Tokens tied to assets other than official currencies, such as commodities or real estate, can be considered highly liquid. The EBA similarly places limits on the amount of these highly liquid financial instruments that an issuer can offer.

In relation to recovery plans, the regulator will define content for communication and transparency, incorporating feedback from the consultation period. It also introduces a new clause to clarify that the requirements on asset accumulation do not apply to EMT issuers previously exempted by the Act.

Standard guidelines are part of MiCA's regulation implementation. Digital assets service providers must comply with the new standards by July 1, 2026.

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