What are digital assets?

Digital assets fall into types by the right they carry, and the right decides which law applies. The table starts with traditional assets in digital form.

A stablecoin is a digital asset as well. MiCA calls a stablecoin that references the value of one official currency an e-money token (Article 3(1)(7)).

EU law defines a crypto-asset as "a digital representation of a value or of a right that is able to be transferred and stored electronically using distributed ledger technology or similar technology" (Article 3(1)(5) MiCA). The definition does not ask who issued the asset or what it is worth. It has two tests: the asset can be transferred, and it is recorded on a distributed ledger or a similar technology.

Recital 17 of MiCA draws the line with an example. It calls loyalty points that the holder can exchange only with the issuer digital assets and excludes them from the crypto-asset definition, because they cannot be transferred to other holders.

Digital assets that other EU financial law already covers fall outside MiCA. Article 2(4) excludes crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments, deposits, funds (except e-money tokens), securitization positions and certain insurance and pension products. Article 2(3) excludes crypto-assets that are unique and not fungible with other crypto-assets.

Are digital assets securities? Some are. The ESMA guidelines of March 19, 2025 state that "the technological format of crypto-assets should not be considered a determining factor" and that tokenized financial instruments remain financial instruments for all regulatory purposes. A token that gives its holder rights equivalent to a share or a bond is a transferable security under Article 4(1)(44) of MiFID II, and securities law applies to it.

Cryptocurrency is one kind of digital asset. FINMA uses the word as a synonym for payment tokens, tokens with "no further functions or links to other development projects" (FINMA, February 16, 2018). Digital assets is the wider term and also covers tokenized bonds, fund units and deposits.

A tokenized asset is a digital asset that represents something outside the ledger. The Financial Stability Board describes tokens that represent existing assets, such as securities, bank deposits or real estate, and tokens that are new claims against their issuer (FSB, October 22, 2024). Bitcoin is a digital asset that represents no outside asset. How an outside asset becomes a token is the subject of What is tokenization of assets?

In banking, digital assets are a business line under supervision. A credit institution in the EU may provide crypto-asset services under MiCA if it notifies its supervisor at least 40 working days before it starts (Article 60(1)). A central securities depository may offer custody of crypto-assets on the same notice (Article 60(2)).

BaFin reports that the German savings bank association DSGV announced in 2025 that savings banks will offer crypto trading from 2026 (BaFin, Risiken im Fokus 2026). In the same report BaFin points to the high volatility of bitcoin and ether. This page gives no investment advice.

In Germany, BaFin is the competent authority under MiCA (section 3 of the Kryptomärkteaufsichtsgesetz, KMAG). The European Central Bank in Frankfurt prepares the digital euro, central bank money in digital form: its Governing Council moved the project to its next phase in October 2025, and the ECB aims to be ready for a first issuance during 2029 if EU legislation is adopted in the course of 2026. The Gesetz über elektronische Wertpapiere (eWpG) of June 3, 2021 lets an issuer replace the paper certificate of a bond or share with an entry in an electronic securities register. The custody of cryptographic instruments for others is a licensed financial service under section 1(1a) sentence 2 no. 6 of the Kreditwesengesetz (KWG).

In Austria, the FMA is the competent authority under section 1 of the MiCA-Verordnung-Vollzugsgesetz (MiCA-VVG). Providers registered for virtual currencies under Austrian anti-money laundering law before December 30, 2024 could continue until December 31, 2025 (section 23).

Switzerland is outside the EU, so MiCA does not apply there. The Swiss DLT Act has been fully in force since August 1, 2021 and allows securities to be issued on a blockchain (State Secretariat for International Finance). FINMA sorts tokens into payment, utility and asset tokens. This page gives no legal advice.