Chapter 04 of 09
The Offering · Vol. 02 No. 01
The Statute · 04
September 2026 · London
Classify the instrument before you name the campaign · European Union
MiCA categories are a taxonomy, not a marketing kit
ART, EMT, and “other crypto-asset” are statutory boxes. Whitepapers are not blog posts.
The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets framework is in force for defined activities and asset categories. It is not a vibe. Asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens are treated as distinct, tightly regulated products. Other crypto-assets have their own whitepaper and offeror duties when they are offered to the public or admitted to trading, with exemptions and nuances counsel must apply. CASPs have an authorisation perimeter. Titles move. Your facts move. We will not be your MiCA counsel.
What we will do is refuse to let “MiCA-compliant” become a hero line. Compliance is a state relative to a specific obligation, as of a date, with a supervisor in a member state. It is not a sticker. A whitepaper notified in one context is not a global passport for a Telegram sale. An exemption is not a growth channel.
Operating posture under a live EU framework
Useful even if your offer is not an EU public offer. Especially then.
- Do not
- Call the token an EMT or ART unless counsel and the facts agree. Those are not compliments.
- Do not
- Treat a whitepaper as a litepaper with a cover. The audiences and liabilities differ.
- Do not
- Assume a CASP partner makes you authorised. Their licence is theirs.
- Do
- Name EU markets in or out. Name whether a public offer is occurring.
- Do
- Keep EU-facing claims inside the register, in words counsel will sign.
Vellum’s EU professional lock was a smaller story than a Union-wide retail offer. Smaller was the adult move. A MiCA whitepaper, if and when counsel says it is required, is a disclosure instrument. It is not a funnel. We will help structure a public narrative that does not fight the paper. We will not draft the paper as if we were the offeror’s lawyer.