Insider · Berlins TodayCOREDO, a Prague-based legal and financial consulting firm specializing in EU financial licensing, has outlined the implications of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) opinion issued on October 8, 2026. The opinion requires authorized crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) across the European Union to cease providing services in stablecoins that do not comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). According to COREDO, national supervisors are expected to demand remediation of remaining legacy exposures as soon as possible, with January 8, 2027, set as the latest date for supervisory action.
The ESMA opinion of October 8, 2026 is directed at national competent authorities under Article 29(1)(a) of the ESMA Regulation. The opinion addresses asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs), which are the two MiCA categories that include stablecoins, where the requirements for a lawful offer to the public or admission to trading under Titles III and IV of MiCA are not met. Industry reporting identifies Tether’s USDT as the most prominent token lacking MiCA authorization.
ESMA bases its expectations on Article 66(1) of MiCA, which requires CASPs to act honestly, fairly, and professionally in the best interests of clients. The authority notes that the risks of non-compliant tokens stem from the absence of issuer-level safeguards, such as reserve assets, redemption rights, governance, and disclosure, and that service providers are unable to mitigate these risks independently. The October 2026 opinion expands on ESMA’s January 2025 guidance by extending supervisory concern to CASPs’ general obligations under Article 66(1), covering services that may not constitute an offer to the public or admission to trading.
The ESMA expectation applies to every MiCA service, whether individually or in combination. These services include operating a trading platform, exchange, order execution, reception and transmission of orders, placing, advice, transfer services, custody, and portfolio management. CASPs are expected to implement technical, contractual, and organizational controls to prevent EU clients from acquiring or increasing positions in non-compliant tokens. ESMA explicitly states that warnings, disclosures, or client acknowledgements are not sufficient to address its concerns.
Residual services are permitted only for an orderly wind-down, such as liquidation, conversion, withdrawal, transfer, or safekeeping of existing holdings. These services must be time-limited, clearly communicated to clients, and closely supervised. They may not support new acquisitions, promotion, or trading. ESMA will monitor the application of the opinion in collaboration with national authorities, and individual supervisors may set earlier cut-off dates if deemed necessary.
The ESMA opinion comes after the end of the MiCA transitional period for CASPs on July 1, 2026. Analyses of ESMA’s interim MiCA register, last updated on October 7, 2026, indicate that approximately 367 distinct crypto-asset service providers are listed across the EU and EEA, along with 25 identifiable e-money token issuers. The CASP figure includes both firms holding MiCA authorizations and regulated financial institutions operating under the notification procedure in Article 60. The European Banking Authority has also indicated that transfers of e-money tokens may qualify as payment services, which could require additional authorization under EU payment-services legislation.
“The opinion turns a long-standing grey zone into a supervisory deadline,” said Nikita Veremeev, Founder and Non-Executive Director of COREDO. “For authorized providers, the question is no longer whether a token is formally offered to the public, but whether its issuer meets MiCA. Firms that cannot evidence their token inventory, client exposure and wind-down controls by January should expect findings at their first post-authorization inspection.”
Based on licensing and compliance work by the financial licensing advisors at COREDO, CASPs face five priorities before January 8, 2027:
- Token inventory: classify every supported token as an ART, EMT, or another crypto-asset, and verify the issuer’s status in the ESMA register.
- Exposure mapping: identify EU clients holding non-compliant tokens across trading, custody, and transfer functions, including omnibus wallets.
- Technical controls: disable purchases, swaps, and other functions that increase positions, and document each change.
- Client communication: inform clients in plain language about the wind-down timeline and the conversion or withdrawal options, and retain records of each notice.
- Supervisory file: record management body decisions, the remediation plan, and evidence of completion for review by the national authority.
For firms planning their own e-money token, COREDO notes a separate requirement: under Article 48 of MiCA, an EMT may be offered to the public only if its issuer is authorized as a credit institution or an electronic money institution.
About COREDO
COREDO is a legal and financial consulting firm founded in 2016 and headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. The company provides legal, compliance, financial licensing, and corporate services, assisting small and medium-sized enterprises in obtaining electronic money, payment, investment, and crypto-asset licenses, building AML frameworks, and structuring operations across 15 European jurisdictions.
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Media Contact:
Nikita Veremeev
COREDO
info@coredo.eu
+420 228 886 867
