20. What is the impact of MiCA on the Regulation?

MiCA, the European Regulation on crypto-assets^[1], introduces requirements regarding, among other things, transparency when offering crypto-assets to the public and admitting crypto-assets to trading. MiCA also regulates the authorization and the supervision of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), issuers of asset-related tokens (ARTs) and issuers of e-money tokens (EMTs). The FSMA has already provided information about the application of MiCA within the Belgian legal system and its impact on CASPs.

Most of MiCA’s provisions have been in force since 30 December 2024. The provisions covering ARTs and EMTs have been in force since 30 June 2024.

MiCA governs advertisements^[2] that are disseminated when offering crypto-assets to the public and admitting them to trading, as well as advertisements made by CASPs. Those provisions are directly applicable in Belgian law and take precedence over the provisions of the FSMA’s Regulation of 5 January 2023 wherever the latter applies.

Advertisements that are disseminated when distributing virtual currencies to consumers in Belgium and that also fall within the scope of MiCA are now regulated by the provisions of MiCA and not by the Regulation. 

If the said advertisements fall outside the scope of MiCA, then of course they continue to be subject to the Regulation. This is the case, for example, for:

• Advertisements disseminated when distributing virtual currencies to consumers in Belgium by persons who do not provide crypto-asset services. This way, influencers or intermediaries who disseminate advertisements when distributing virtual currencies to consumers in Belgium^[3] remain subject to the Regulation;
• Advertisements disseminated when offering to the public virtual currencies that qualify as crypto-assets with no identifiable issuer (cf. Recital 22 of MiCA). This way, advertisements for the offer to the public of bitcoins, for example, remain subject to the Regulation. However, where crypto-asset services connected to such crypto-assets are provided, it is MiCA, and not the Regulation, that applies (see above).

MiCA’s precedence over the Regulation when it comes to CASPs applies only to companies that already hold an authorization as a CASP under MiCA and that are not availing themselves of the transitional regime set out in Article 143, § 3 of MiCA. CASPs that provide their services in Belgium under the transitional regime must continue to comply with the Regulation for the advertisements that they disseminate when distributing virtual currencies to consumers in Belgium.