MiCA Crypto Alliance
The MiCA Crypto Alliance is an industry association that prepares the disclosure documents crypto-assets need under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation of the EU. Its team drafts, reviews and submits MiCA white papers in the machine-readable iXBRL format and produces the sustainability datasheets that issuers, offerors and crypto-asset service providers must publish.
The DLT Science Foundation launched the alliance in London in September 2024, with Hedera, Ripple and the Aptos Foundation as its founding members. Juan Ignacio Ibañez leads the alliance as executive director, and the operating company MiCA Crypto Alliance Limited is registered in Malta. Since September 2026 the team also prepares disclosure documents for the new crypto regime in the United Kingdom.
MiCA white paper services from drafting to submission
A MiCA white paper is a regulatory disclosure document, and the MiCA regulation requires one before a crypto-asset is offered to the public in the EU or admitted to trading on an EU platform. The alliance drafts these documents from scratch under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2984. It also reviews existing drafts against Titles II, III and IV of MiCA and brings older papers up to the current requirements.
The format is part of the obligation, because the implementing regulation requires XHTML with inline XBRL tagging under the taxonomy of the European Securities and Markets Authority. The alliance renders white papers in this format, obtains the DTI and LEI identifiers they need and prepares the notification under Article 8 of MiCA. When a project prefers not to act as the submitting entity, the alliance can submit the white paper in its own name.
Client white papers for USDC, EURC, HBAR and XDC
The alliance publishes the white papers it prepared for clients in a public library on its website. Circle worked with the alliance to review and update the MiCA white papers of its e-money tokens USDC and EURC under the final technical standards, including the iXBRL format. The library also holds white papers for the Hedera network with its token HBAR and for the token of the XDC Network.
For the Swiss franc stablecoin ZCHF of Frankencoin, the interim register of ESMA lists a white paper filed by MiCA Crypto Alliance Opco Limited. The competent authority for that filing is the Malta Financial Services Authority, so exchanges in the EU can admit the coin to trading.
MiCA ESG disclosures and sustainability indicators
MiCA requires offerors, persons seeking admission to trading and crypto-asset service providers to disclose the climate and environmental impact of a crypto-asset. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/422 sets between 8 and 16 mandatory and between 15 and 23 optional indicators, depending on the type of asset and service. The alliance delivers standardized datasheets for these indicators, either alone or bundled with a white paper.
Beyond energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, the datasheets of the alliance report optional indicators such as water footprint, e-waste and hazardous waste. According to its website, the alliance has analyzed the ESG data of more than 1,900 tokens and published more than 550 MiCA disclosures.
White Paper Tracker and CASP Tracker
The alliance runs two public tools that anyone can search on its website. The White Paper Tracker collects MiCA white papers published across the EU and scores their disclosure quality with a rules-based methodology derived from Implementing Regulation 2024/2984. The methodology is now in its second edition, and projects with a low score can ask the alliance to revise their paper.
The CASP Tracker combines the MiCA register of ESMA and the EUCLID register of the European Banking Authority in one directory of authorized crypto-asset service providers and non-compliant entities. Since October 2026 the tracker also shows the e-money and payment institution licenses that authorized providers hold. A CASP license lets a provider serve clients in every EU member state under one authorization.
Training for CASP staff under the ESMA guidelines
From 28 July 2026, the ESMA guidelines on knowledge and competence under Article 81(15) of MiCA apply to every authorized crypto-asset service provider. Staff who give information on crypto-assets need at least 80 hours of initial qualification, and staff who give advice need at least 160 hours, each paired with supervised experience. Annual professional development is then set at 10 and 20 hours for the two groups.
The alliance is building a training program for these staff at banks and CASPs, with pre-recorded modules, an examination for each track and a certificate from the alliance. The program currently takes registrations on a waiting list, and specialist firms can sponsor single modules. The DEC Institute in Switzerland offers its own MiCA certification for the same ESMA requirements.
Upcoming crypto and digital asset events in Germany
Founding members and membership
The DLT Science Foundation, whose founder and chairman is Paolo Tasca, set up the alliance and gave its members sustainability indicators and white paper tools at the start. Hedera joined as a founding member with its expertise in sustainability metrics, together with Ripple and the Aptos Foundation. Nilmini Rubin, Chief Policy Officer at Hedera, said at the launch that the members want to establish a cohesive regulatory framework.
Membership is open to layer-1 and layer-2 networks, token issuers and offerors, crypto-asset service providers, law firms and consultancies. Members receive discounted services, early access to reports and seats in working groups that prepare policy contributions. In September 2026 the alliance welcomed the blockchain project Nimiq as a new member.
Research on liquid staking tokens and banks under MiCA
In October 2025 the alliance started a taxonomy of decentralized assets that focuses on liquid staking tokens, with support from the consultancy BlackVogel. These tokens let holders take part in staking and keep their liquidity, yet they fit none of the three MiCA token categories cleanly. Depending on their yield they may even count as financial instruments under MiFID II or AIFMD.
Jiahua Xu, Head of Science at Exponential Science, and Juan Ignacio Ibañez lead the research, which is to end in a peer-reviewed article and a policy brief for regulators. Mariana de la Roche, founder of BlackVogel, leads the review by exchanges, CASPs and lawyers that follows the academic draft.
Together with BlackVogel, the alliance also runs the Future of Banking and Digital Assets initiative, a survey and interview series with EU banks. It covers MiCA licensing, white paper duties and the ESG reporting of digital asset activities under the CSRD. Since August 2026 a further study asks crypto exchanges without MiCA authorization why they have not obtained it.
UK disclosure documents under the FCA crypto regime
In September 2026 the alliance extended its services to the United Kingdom, where the Cryptoassets Regulations 2026 bring crypto activity under the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority. The team drafts Qualifying Cryptoasset Disclosure Documents for admission to trading or a public offer under chapter CRYPTO 3 of the FCA Handbook. It also files supplementary disclosure documents when material changes arise before admission to trading.
The authorization gateway of the FCA is open from 30 September 2026 until 28 February 2027. The full UK regime for crypto-assets then applies from 25 October 2027 to trading platforms, custodians, stablecoin issuers and staking providers.
MiCA Crypto Alliance Limited in Malta
MiCA Crypto Alliance Limited operates the website of the alliance and is registered in Malta under company number C 113167. Its registered office is at 4th Floor Kingsway Palace, Triq ir-Repubblika, Valletta VLT 1115. The membership terms of the alliance are governed by the law of England and Wales, and in September 2026 the team spoke on stablecoins and tokenization at EBC12 in Barcelona. Inquiries reach the alliance by email at contact@micacryptoalliance.com
MiCA Crypto Alliance and Finance Loop
Banks, custodians and crypto exchanges in the Finance Loop network prepare for the same MiCA duties that the alliance documents for its clients, from white papers to staff training under the ESMA guidelines. Finance Loop discusses these rules in the Risk & Compliance track and covers the crypto-assets they regulate in the Investment & Digital Assets track.
Finance Loop is a professional network and has the goal of driving the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, tokenization, stablecoins, and DeFi. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.