The situation
A description of a planned token: rights, issuance, redemption and trading
Your client in Berlin runs a marketplace for renewable-energy certificates and wants to issue a token that buyers can redeem for platform services and that will trade on two crypto exchanges. The founders believe it is a utility token with no rules attached. The launch is set for March, and the exchanges have asked for a legal opinion on its classification.
MiCA gives a structure. The hours go on applying it: first whether the token is a financial instrument, then whether it is an e-money token, an asset-referenced token or another crypto-asset, which exemptions fit, and what the German implementing act adds. The opinion has to show each step and the facts it rests on.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- Exclusions come first
- MiCA does not apply to crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments, deposits, funds, securitisation positions or certain insurance and pension products. If the token is a financial instrument, the securities rules apply instead, so this is the first test.
- Three categories within MiCA
- An e-money token references the value of one official currency. An asset-referenced token references another value or right, or a combination, including several currencies. Everything else is another crypto-asset, which includes utility tokens.
- Utility tokens still carry duties
- MiCA exempts some offers from the white-paper duty, including offers of a utility token for a good or service that already exists. Seeking admission to trading on a crypto-asset platform brings its own requirements, so a traded token rarely escapes them.
- Unique NFTs are outside, series may not be
- MiCA excludes crypto-assets that are unique and not fungible with others. Its recitals say that issuance in a large series or as fractional parts may indicate fungibility, so a redeemable token issued in quantity needs that analysis.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
Berlin marketplace plans a token redeemable for platform services, to be admitted to trading on two exchanges. Under MiCA, is it a financial instrument, an e-money or asset-referenced token, or another crypto-asset, and does any white-paper exemption apply?
You start with
A description of a planned token: rights, issuance, redemption and trading
- 01
Describe the token
Set out what the token gives holders and how it is issued, redeemed and traded. azta searches MiCA, MiFID II, the E-Money Directive and the German implementing legislation.
Cited research· Free - 02
Read the German implementing act
Open the German provisions in the statute reader, in German, with their in-force status, to see the competent authority and the national procedures.
Atlas statute reader - 03
Draft the classification note
Ask for a note that takes each test in order with the provisions relied on and lists the facts that would change the answer. Edit it in Canvas.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro - 04
Export for the opinion
Export to Word as the basis for the legal opinion you sign for the exchanges.
Word export· Pro You send
A classification note under MiCA, with the facts the answer depends on
What you get
A classification note under MiCA, with the facts the answer depends on
Classification note · draft
The platform token under MiCA
Financial instrument test. On the facts provided, the token gives no right to profits, votes or repayment and is not a share, bond or derivative. We have therefore assessed it under MiCA, on the basis that the facts in section 1 remain correct.
Category. The token does not reference a currency or any other asset, and its value is not stabilised. It is another crypto-asset within MiCA, of the utility type, because it gives access to services on the platform that are already in operation.
Consequences. Because the client intends admission to trading, a white paper is required and must be notified as MiCA provides. Marketing communications must be consistent with it. The steps and the authority involved under the German implementing act are set out in section 4.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
9 minutes a month
At €200 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 25
- Capacity at your rate
- €5,040
- More token classification notes a quarter
- 0.7
- Return on Pro
- 15.6×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoWhat stays with you
- The token’s design and the facts the classification rests on.
- ESMA and national authority guidance on classification, which azta does not hold.
- The opinion you sign for the exchanges.
Frequently asked questions
- Does azta hold ESMA’s guidance on classifying crypto-assets?
- No. It holds MiCA, the delegated and implementing acts in EUR-Lex and national legislation. ESMA and supervisory guidance need checking separately.
- Can it cover the authorisation side?
- It holds the German implementing legislation and can research the authorisation rules. The application itself stays with you.
- Can azta draft the white paper?
- It can draft sections in Canvas from your facts, with the required content cited. The facts, the risk disclosures and the responsibility statement stay with the issuer.
