What is MiCA?
MiCA ("Markets in Crypto-Assets") is EU Regulation 2023/1114, which for the first time harmonises the rules for crypto-assets across the whole EU. It replaces fragmented national rules with a single, directly applicable regime. The provisions on asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens have applied since 30 June 2024, and the remaining ones — including the rules for service providers — since 30 December 2024.
MiCA aims to protect investors and market integrity while enabling innovation. The regulation organises three pillars: requirements for issuers of crypto-assets (white paper, liability for information), a regime for entities that are also systemically important (asset-referenced tokens and e-money), and the licensing and supervision of service providers dealing in crypto-assets on behalf of clients.
Who is it for? CASPs, ARTs and EMTs
MiCA distinguishes several types of entity. A crypto-asset service provider (CASP) is a firm that professionally provides services such as custody and administration of crypto-assets, operating a trading platform, exchange, order execution, advice, portfolio management or transfer. Every CASP must obtain authorisation from the competent authority (in Poland the KNF) before starting operations.
An issuer of asset-referenced tokens (ART) issues crypto-assets that stabilise value against a basket of assets, and an issuer of e-money tokens (EMT) against a single official currency. Both types of issuer are subject to stricter prudential requirements, because their tokens function similarly to money. A Polish crypto company that wants to operate legally in the EU almost always falls into at least one of these categories.
Key obligations
MiCA imposes a set of interlocking obligations. An entity must obtain authorisation and maintain prudential safeguards (own funds) and sound governance with a competent management body. In client protection, it requires: secure custody of clients crypto-assets and funds, strict segregation of client assets from own assets, a conflicts-of-interest policy and a free complaints-handling procedure.
A separate, strong block is market integrity: a prohibition on insider dealing and market manipulation, an obligation to detect and report suspicious transactions, plus a sound white paper and fair marketing communications. Added to this are ICT security and operational resilience requirements, consistent with the DORA regulation, and continuous supervision and reporting to the authority.
What compliance looks like in practice
In practice, MiCA compliance starts by mapping the services provided onto the MiCA service catalogue and determining which role the firm plays (CASP, ART issuer, EMT issuer). This determines which requirements are mandatory and which do not apply. Then a full set of policies and procedures is built — custody and key management, fund segregation, market abuse prevention, complaints, conflicts of interest — and the documentation for the authorisation application is prepared.
MiCA interlocks strongly with other standards: information security (ISO 27001), operational resilience (DORA), anti-money laundering (AML) and data protection (GDPR). A firm that has already implemented ISO 27001 has met a significant part of MiCA technical requirements — cross-mapping shows how much work is already done.
How Guardiso helps
Guardiso guides a crypto firm through MiCA step by step. The controls module contains 31 MiCA controls across eight groups; you mark which apply to your service profile and which you exclude with justification. The implementation wizard breaks the path to compliance into phases — from entity qualification and authorisation, through governance and own funds, client protection and market integrity, to ongoing supervision.
The platform generates a full set of MiCA policies tailored to your company data — crypto-asset custody, key management, client-fund segregation, complaints handling, conflicts of interest and market abuse prevention — and maps MiCA requirements onto other implemented standards, showing the leverage and the real gaps to close.