The rule.
MiCA became fully applicable to crypto-asset service providers on 30 December 2024. To avoid an overnight cliff-edge, Article 143 gave firms already operating under national regimes a transitional period — a grandfathering window during which they could keep serving clients while an authorisation application was in flight. That window closes on 1 July 2026.
“Crypto-asset service providers that provided their services in accordance with applicable law before 30 December 2024 may continue to do so until 1 July 2026, or until they are granted or refused an authorisation pursuant to Article 63, whichever is sooner.”
Two things in that sentence matter. First, 1 July 2026 is the outer boundary — ESMA confirmed on 17 April 2026 that no member state may extend grandfathering beyond it. Second, the window can close earlier for any given firm: member states were permitted to set shorter national transitional periods, and several have, so a firm’s real cut-off may already have passed. “Whichever is sooner” cuts against the firm, not for it.
What changes on the day.
From the moment the transitional period expires for a firm, the legal position flips from “permitted under a transitional measure” to “providing a regulated service without authorisation.” Concretely:
Service provision becomes unlawful. Operating as a CASP for EU clients — custody, exchange, execution, transfer, advice, placement — requires a MiCA authorisation. Without one, those services may no longer be provided to EU clients.
Marketing becomes exposure, not growth. Every acquisition asset still live — the landing page, the paid ads, the KOL posts, the app-store listing — now solicits clients for a service the firm cannot lawfully provide. The promotion does not just stop being useful; it becomes evidence of continued solicitation.
The obligation becomes client protection. ESMA has been explicit that firms losing their transitional cover must wind down in an orderly way that minimises harm to clients, rather than going dark. That reframes the marketing and comms function from acquisition to managed exit.
Context for the scale of this: as of May 2026, only around 17% of pre-MiCA registered entities had obtained CASP authorisation — meaning the large majority of formerly-registered firms are heading into the deadline still unlicensed.
Who is affected.
The deadline bites unevenly. Use these buckets to locate yourself.
A formerly nationally-registered exchange with no granted MiCA authorisation, still running EU-targeted ads and onboarding new EU users in late June 2026.
The highest-exposure position. Past the firm’s transitional cut-off, both the service and its active solicitation are outside the perimeter. Citation: MiCA Art. 143; ESMA statement, 17 April 2026.
A firm with an authorisation application in progress marketing “MiCA-licensed” or “MiCA-ready” before the licence is actually granted.
A pending application is not an authorisation. Claiming or implying licensed status before grant is itself a misleading marketing communication under Article 88. Citation: MiCA Art. 63; Art. 88.
A non-EU firm relying on “reverse solicitation” while still running EU-language campaigns, EU influencer deals, and EU geo-targeted ads.
The reverse-solicitation exemption is construed narrowly and is destroyed by active marketing into the EU. You cannot solicit and then claim the client came to you. Citation: MiCA Art. 61; ESMA guidance on reverse solicitation.
What to do about the marketing surface.
NorthPoint does not file authorisation applications — that is a job for legal counsel and your national competent authority. What we own is the part most firms forget under deadline pressure: the live marketing surface. These are the steps that sit with the growth and comms function.
Find the transitional window that actually applies to you — the national one in your client member states, which may be shorter than 1 July 2026. Plan the marketing wind-down to the earliest binding date, not the last.
If you will be past your cut-off without a grant, switch off EU-targeted acquisition: paid ads, KOL contracts, EU-language landing pages, and new-client signup flows. Acquisition marketing is the surface that converts a quiet status problem into visible, ongoing solicitation.
Strip “MiCA-licensed,” “regulated,” or “authorised” language until the authorisation is actually granted under Article 63. “Application submitted” is a fact; “MiCA-compliant” implied as licensed status is a misleading-marketing finding waiting to happen.
If winding down, convert the comms channel from acquisition to client protection: notify existing EU clients, explain withdrawal and close-out, and set a clear timeline. The same email list that drove growth is now the client-protection channel ESMA expects you to use.
If your authorisation is granted, make sure the marketing reflects only the services and member states the licence actually covers — and that every live communication clears the Article 88 “clear, fair, and not misleading” bar. The licence sets the marketing scope, not the other way round.
Related rules.
-
The “clear, fair, and not misleading” rule every communication must clear — including any “licensed” claim.
-
Consistency between marketing communications and the published whitepaper.
-
Paid endorsements into the EU are marketing communications — and active solicitation for reverse-solicitation purposes.
-
MiCA, FCA, GDPR — the marketing rules, quoted and explained.
This page is an operator-grade heuristic for marketing and communications teams, not legal advice and not a determination of any firm’s authorisation status. The Article 143 quotation is a plain-English rendering of the transitional provision; for the binding text and your firm’s position, consult the Regulation and qualified counsel in your client member states.