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The EBA has issued a new opinion outlining the conditions under which NCAs are advised to allow CASPs to continue providing electronic money tokens (EMTs) that qualify as a payment service after 2 March 2026, while they do not (yet) hold a licence under PSD2.
The opinion clarifies the way forward as follows:
- CASPs that have obtained dual authorisation (CASP/PSP) will be able to continue offering all services for which they are authorised, including the custody and/or transfer of EMTs.
- CASPs that have submitted a PSD2 application but are not yet authorised may continue providing custody/transfer of EMTs subject to a number of conditions.
- CASPs that have not submitted a PSD2 application or have been rejected as of 2 March 2026, are advised to cease operations relating to the custody/transfer of EMTs.
The opinion follows the EBA's No-Action Letter published on 2 June 2025, which responded to a request from the European Commission to clarify the interplay between PSD2 and MiCA in relation to CASPs transacting EMTs that qualify as payment services.
The No-Action Letter allowed CASPs to continue providing these services, deferring the requirement to obtain a second authorisation under PSD2 until the end of a 9-month transition period. In addition, the letter advised NCAs to consider only a subset of crypto-asset services with EMTs as payment services, thereby reducing the number of CASPs requiring such authorisation.
The new opinion reiterates the original position adopted by EBA and given that application volumes are likely to vary across Member States, the EBA has issued this opinion to advise NCAs how to prioritise their authorisation efforts when the transition period ends.
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