• Understand the risks: Crypto-assets are not all the same. Consumers must learn about the product, evaluate and thus anticipate risks such as extreme price swings, liquidity issues, and misleading promotions, especially on social media.
• Check authorisations: Verify that the crypto-asset service provider (CASP) is authorised under MiCA via the ESMA register, accessible here.
• Secure your assets: Use secure devices and wallets to protect private keys, as losing them results in irreversible loss.

MiCA, effective from December 2024, regulates certain crypto-assets like electronic money tokens (EMTs) and asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), but excludes others like crypto-assets that are unique and non-fungible such as domain names.

Therefore, consumers should be aware that investing or using crypto-assets not regulated by MiCA or other EU financial services legislation or that are offered through unauthorised crypto-asset service providers may lead to significant risks and limited or no consumer protection.

ESMA’s press release can be found here

The warning letter and the accompanied factsheet explaining what the new EU regulation on MiCA means for consumers, can be accessed here and here