These 3 Compliance Regulations are essential when offering Crypto Assets

From DORA to MiCAR to the Travel Rule: institutions looking to offer crypto assets must navigate a broad spectrum of compliance requirements and meet tight implementation deadlines. Leveraging extensive experience with financial institutions, Trever provides a clear overview of the key compliance standards essential for secure and efficient operations.

DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is a European regulation and came into force on January 17, 2025. It focuses on the effective management of risks related to information and communication technology (ICT) in the financial sector. Its primary aim is to ensure that financial institutions can maintain operations even in the face of significant cyber threats or ICT disruptions, enhancing their resilience against such risks.

Who should be aware of?

All financial market participants such as

• credit institutions
• payment institutions
• crypto asset service providers
• exchanges
• electronic money institutions
• investment firms
• account information service providers
• insurance companies
• clearing houses
• alternative fund manager
• etc. ¹

Find more details about specific DORA requirements institutions must comply with.

MiCAR (Markets-in-Crypto-Assets-Regulation)

The Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCAR) was introduced to create a harmonized crypto-assets regulatory framework within the European Union (EU). The aim is to strengthen investor and consumer protection and combat money laundering and terrorist financing. MiCA has been applicable to all issuers and crypto asset service providers since December 30, 2024. ²

Which crypto assets are covered?

• Asset Referenced Tokens
• E-Money Tokens
• Further crypto assets including Utility Tokens

Who should be aware of?

This affects all entities who issue crypto assets or provide services in connection with crypto assets in the European Union, so-called Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs). This includes companies that,

• issue or offer crypto assets.
• provide crypto-asset services in connection with crypto-assets. (Even if there is no direct connection with the settlement of crypto assets, e.g. consulting).
• want to offer crypto asset services in the future. ³

Additional Frameworks

In addition to MiCAR, The Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/1140 of 27 February 2025 further sets out detailed requirements for record-keeping and structured, secure, and verifiable storage. Find out more about the requirements and how Trever supports.

Travel Rule

In 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) expanded its anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regulations to cover virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs), commonly referred to as the Travel Rule.

The Travel Rule obliges VASPs to identify and share information about the source and recipient of crypto transactions that exceed a certain threshold. This rule came into force on December 30, 2025 and aims to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities.

This information includes the name, account number and address, national identity number, customer identification number or date and place of birth of the originator. Also the name and account number of the beneficiary has to be shared. ⁴

Who should be aware of?

The travel rule affects VASPs for both fiat and virtual asset transactions. The Travel Rule is to be implemented if…

• The transactions involve a traditional wire transfer or
• A virtual asset transfer between a VASP and another obliged entity or
• A virtual asset transfer between a VASP and a self-hosted wallet. ⁵

Summary

These key regulations have a significant impact on the crypto landscape in Europe. By preparing and ensuring compliance, businesses can avoid potential disruption. If you want to integrate a fully compliant operating system to manage digital assets, get in touch with us: https://trever.io/contact/

Sources:

¹ DORA and its impact on UK financial entities and ICT service providers. (o. D.). PwC. https://www.pwc.co.uk/industries/financial-services/insights/dora-and-its-impact-on-uk-financial-entities-and-ict-service-providers.html

² Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation(„MiCAR“). (2024). https://www.linkedin.com/posts/finplanet_micar-factsheet-activity-7242445800264351744-XvdY/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

³ FinPlanet. (2024, 2. Oktober). FinPlanet on LinkedIn: MiCAR-Factsheet Crypto-asset service provider. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/finplanet_micar-factsheet-crypto-asset-service-provider-activity-7247145701447503872-e1fy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

⁴ What is the Crypto Travel Rule? (o. D.). https://notabene.id/crypto-travel-rule-101/what-is-the-crypto-travel-rule#what-are-the-fatf-travel-rule-requirements

⁵ Everything VASPs need to know about the FATF travel Rule. (o. D.). 21 Analytics. https://www.21analytics.ch/what-is-the-fatf-travel-rule/

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