The European Supervisory Authorities, including the ECB, EBA, EIOPA, and ESMA, have released a cautionary notice to consumers regarding crypto-assets. These authorities highlight that investments in such assets might not offer adequate protection.

Informing Consumers with a Factsheet

Accompanying this warning is a comprehensive factsheet detailing the upcoming EU regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) and its implications for investors. The ESAs advise consumers to exercise caution by verifying whether their provider of crypto-assets services has received authorization within the European Union.

Protecting Consumers Across Europe

The MiCA regulation, which will come into effect as of December 2024, aims at establishing a harmonized supervisory framework for certain types of crypto-assets. While innovative financial products like crypto-assets can enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the EU’s financial systems, they also carry specific risks. These include volatile price movements, liquidity issues, misinformation, scams, and security breaches.

Consumers are encouraged to gather information about any product or service before making an investment decision, ensuring that their chosen provider is legally authorized in Europe. Additionally, securing digital wallets used for storing assets is emphasized as a crucial step.

The ESAs have created a multilingual factsheet to provide clarity on what crypto-assets are, which ones fall under the scope of MiCA and those that do not, and common service providers consumers may encounter.