ESMA’s regulation of stablecoins reaches beyond trading: an opinion published on October 8, 2026 calls for MiCA-authorised crypto firms to stop services involving non-compliant tokens for EU clients, while allowing tightly supervised activities to clear existing holdings.
The European Securities and Markets Authority said in a press release that its opinion clarifies supervisory expectations for asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs) that fail to meet the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA.
The scope covers the full range of regulated crypto services, not just exchange listings. Existing customer exposure must be addressed as soon as possible, with an outer limit of three months after publication.
Stablecoin regulation extends to custody and transfers
MiCA-authorised crypto-asset service providers should cease services involving non-compliant stablecoins for clients in the European Union. The restriction encompasses trading platforms, exchange, order execution, placement, order reception and transmission, investment advice, transfers, custody and administration, and portfolio management. It applies to services offered separately or together.
National Competent Authorities are responsible for ensuring that market participants do not maintain, introduce or facilitate client access to these tokens. They should also ensure that providers adopt technical, contractual and organisational controls that prevent the tokens’ availability in the EU, including controls against customers acquiring tokens or increasing existing exposure.
A narrow allowance remains for handling affected assets. Continuing services must be necessary for liquidation, conversion, withdrawal, transfer or safekeeping. Those activities must be time-limited, risk-based and closely supervised—not a continuation of ordinary access.
According to crypto.news, the three-month window concerns remaining customer holdings and does not reopen ordinary trading in tokens previously removed under MiCA. The report also distinguishes these expectations for licensed providers from a universal prohibition on holding tokens in private wallets.
National supervisors should require remediation of remaining pre-existing exposure no later than three months after publication. Crypto.news identifies that outer deadline as January 8, 2027.
Article produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the editorial team.