MiCA is EU law. It does not govern what a company based in Switzerland, the UK, the UAE or anywhere else does with clients outside the EU; that remains a matter for local law. It does apply as soon as a non-EU company provides crypto-asset services to clients in the EU, or offers crypto-assets to the public in the EU. MiCA has no third-country passport, so a non-EU firm that wants EU clients usually needs an authorised CASP in a Member State. Reverse solicitation covers only isolated cases where the client approaches the firm entirely on its own initiative.
Territorial scope: where are your clients?
MiCA applies to persons engaged in the issuance, offer to the public and admission to trading of crypto-assets, or in crypto-asset services, in the Union (art. 2). What counts is not where the company is incorporated but whether it targets or serves clients located in the EU. Signs of targeting include websites in EU languages, advertising or sponsorships in EU countries, EU payment methods, local influencers and onboarding flows designed for EU residents. Accepting EU clients without any marketing can still be a problem if it happens systematically.
No third-country passport
MiCA has no equivalence regime for CASPs from outside the EU. A CASP must have its registered office in a Member State, its place of effective management in the EU and at least one EU-resident director (art. 59). A licence at home, however demanding, does not replace this. Some examples:
- a Swiss firm affiliated to an SRO or licensed by FINMA;
- a UK firm registered with the FCA;
- a UAE firm holding a local virtual asset licence.
Reverse solicitation is narrow
Art. 61 MiCA allows a non-EU firm to serve an EU client only where the client started the relationship at its own exclusive initiative. ESMA guidelines read this strictly: any solicitation, promotion or advertising in the EU, by the firm or anyone acting for it, defeats the exemption, and it does not allow offering new products or services to that client. It is a defence for isolated cases, not a business model. Firms relying on it should keep evidence of how each EU client arrived.
Other ways MiCA reaches non-EU firms
- Token issuers: offering a crypto-asset to the public in the EU, or seeking its admission to an EU trading platform, brings white paper duties; e-money tokens and asset-referenced tokens need an issuer authorised in the EU.
- Counterparties: EU CASPs apply the Travel Rule and counterparty due diligence to transfers with providers outside the EU, and will ask you for data and documents.
- Stablecoins: EU platforms can offer only stablecoins that comply with MiCA, which affects products built for EU users.
- Partners: EU banks and payment providers often ask non-EU crypto firms how they keep EU clients out or serve them lawfully.
How Advisorn helps
Advisorn reviews your EU exposure, designs geo-blocking and onboarding controls or an EU structure, and aligns your home-country requirements with MiCA so that the two sets of rules do not conflict.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), art. 2, 59, 61 and, for token issuers, art. 16 and 48; ESMA guidelines on reverse solicitation under MiCA; Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 (Travel Rule). Home-country rules (for example Swiss AMLA, UK Money Laundering Regulations, UAE virtual asset rules) are examples only.
Updated November 2026 · General information, not legal or tax advice on your specific case.