MiCA in the EU: What Changes for the Private Crypto Holder

MiCA is the first major crypto regulation at the EU level. Reading it in full can make you lose interest after the second chapter. If we extract what is practical for a holder, we get a few points.

Licensed Service Providers

From 2024–2025, all CASPs (Crypto-Asset Service Providers) operating in the EU – exchanges, custodians, wallets with exchange functionality – must obtain a license in one of the EU countries. Without it, operating in the European Union is prohibited. For the holder, this means: some small exchanges and services that did not pass the regulatory sieve have left the market or exited the EU.

The positive side is that those who survive have passed financial audits, KYC and AML procedures, and mandatory client asset protection. The downside is less choice, and prices and fees at larger providers are usually higher.

Stablecoins Under Separate Rules

USDT, USDC, DAI, and similar are regulated as asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens. Issuers must hold 1:1 reserves in safe assets, undergo audits, and are subject to limits on daily issuance volume. This reduces the risk of a repeat of the UST/Luna story – but also significantly tightens requirements for issuers.

Tether has not obtained an EU license, and some European exchanges removed USDT from trading in early 2025. USDC, being MiCA-compliant, remained. For the holder, this means: on European platforms, liquidity is shifting to USDC.

Travel Rule

For transfers between providers exceeding €1,000, sender and recipient data must be transmitted (Travel Rule). In practice, this works between exchanges: when withdrawing to an external address, you may need to confirm who owns it.

Transfers between your own wallets without an intermediary are not directly limited by the regulation. However, when depositing a large amount to a regulated exchange, you may be asked for proof of origin – this is not MiCA but European AML rules.

What Has Not Changed

Taxes remain a matter of national legislation. In Germany, a private holder pays zero tax after one year of holding; in France, a 30% flat tax on profits; in Italy, 26% on profits exceeding €2,000 per year. MiCA does not harmonize this.