- alternative investment fund manager
means an AIFM as defined in Article 4(1), point (b), of Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;
- applicant issuer
means an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or e-money tokens who applies for authorisation to offer to the public or seeks the admission to trading of those crypto-assets;
- asset-referenced token
means a type of crypto-asset that is not an electronic money token and that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right or a combination thereof, including one or more official currencies;
- client
means any natural or legal person to whom a crypto-asset service provider provides crypto-asset services;
- close links
means close links as defined in Article 4(1), point (35), of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- competent authority
means one or more authorities:
- consensus mechanism
means the rules and procedures by which an agreement is reached, among DLT network nodes, that a transaction is validated;
- credit institution
means a credit institution as defined in Article 4(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and authorised under Directive 2013/36/EU;
- crypto-asset
means 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;
- crypto-asset service
means any of the following services and activities relating to any crypto-asset:
- crypto-asset service provider
means a legal person or other undertaking whose occupation or business is the provision of one or more crypto-asset services to clients on a professional basis, and that is allowed to provide crypto-asset services in accordance with Article 59;
- deposit
means a deposit as defined in Article 2(1), point (3), of Directive 2014/49/EU;
- distributed ledger
means an information repository that keeps records of transactions and that is shared across, and synchronised between, a set of DLT network nodes using a consensus mechanism;
- DLT
means a technology that enables the operation and use of distributed ledgers;
- e-money token
means a type of crypto-asset that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing the value of one official currency;
- electronic money
means electronic money as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Directive 2009/110/EC;
- electronic money institution
means an electronic money institution as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Directive 2009/110/EC;
- exchange of crypto-assets for funds
means the conclusion of purchase or sale contracts concerning crypto-assets with clients for funds by using proprietary capital;
- exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets
means the conclusion of purchase or sale contracts concerning crypto-assets with clients for other crypto-assets by using proprietary capital;
- execution of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
means the conclusion of agreements, on behalf of clients, to purchase or sell one or more crypto-assets or the subscription on behalf of clients for one or more crypto-assets, and includes the conclusion of contracts to sell crypto-assets at the moment of their offer to the public or admission to trading;
- financial instrument
means financial instruments as defined in Article 4(1), point (15), of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- funds
means funds as defined in Article 4, point (25), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
- home Member State
means:
- host Member State
means the Member State where an offeror or person seeking admission to trading has made an offer to the public of crypto-assets or is seeking admission to trading, or where a crypto-asset service provider provides crypto-asset services, where different from the home Member State;
- investment firm
means an investment firm as defined in Article 4(1), point (2), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 and authorised under Directive 2014/65/EU;
- issuer
means a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, who issues crypto-assets;
- management body
means the body or bodies of an issuer, offeror or person seeking admission to trading, or of a crypto-asset service provider, which are appointed in accordance with national law, which are empowered to set the entity’s strategy, objectives and overall direction, and which oversee and monitor management decision-making in the entity and include the persons who effectively direct the business of the entity;
- matched principal trading
means matched principal trading as defined in Article 4(1), point (38), of Directive 2014/65/EU;
- offer to the public
means a communication to persons in any form, and by any means, presenting sufficient information on the terms of the offer and the crypto-assets to be offered so as to enable prospective holders to decide whether to purchase those crypto-assets;
- offeror
means a natural or legal person, or other undertaking, or the issuer, who offers crypto-assets to the public;
- official currency
means an official currency of a country that is issued by a central bank or other monetary authority;
- online interface
means any software, including a website, part of a website or an application, that is operated by or on behalf of an offeror or crypto-asset service provider, and which serves to give holders of crypto-assets access to their crypto-assets and to give clients access to crypto-asset services;
- operation of a trading platform for crypto-assets
means the management of one or more multilateral systems, which bring together or facilitate the bringing together of multiple third-party purchasing and selling interests in crypto-assets, in the system and in accordance with its rules, in a way that results in a contract, either by exchanging crypto-assets for funds or by the exchange of crypto-assets for other crypto-assets;
- payment institution
means a payment institution as defined in Article 4, point (4), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
- payment service provider
means a payment service provider as defined in Article 4, point (11), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
- payment services
means payment services as defined in Article 4, point (3), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
- personal data
means personal data as defined in Article 4, point (1), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679;
- placing of crypto-assets
means the marketing, on behalf of or for the account of the offeror or a party related to the offeror, of crypto-assets to purchasers;
- providing advice on crypto-assets
means offering, giving or agreeing to give personalised recommendations to a client, either at the client’s request or on the initiative of the crypto-asset service provider providing the advice, in respect of one or more transactions relating to crypto-assets, or the use of crypto-asset services;
- providing custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients
means the safekeeping or controlling, on behalf of clients, of crypto-assets or of the means of access to such crypto-assets, where applicable in the form of private cryptographic keys;
- providing portfolio management of crypto-assets
means managing portfolios in accordance with mandates given by clients on a discretionary client-by-client basis where such portfolios include one or more crypto-assets;
- providing transfer services for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
means providing services of transfer, on behalf of a natural or legal person, of crypto-assets from one distributed ledger address or account to another;
- qualified investors
means persons or entities that are listed in Section I, points (1) to (4), of Annex II to Directive 2014/65/EU;
- qualifying holding
means any direct or indirect holding in an issuer of asset-referenced tokens or in a crypto-asset service provider which represents at least 10 % of the capital or of the voting rights, as set out in Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, respectively, taking into account the conditions for the aggregation thereof laid down in Article 12(4) and (5) of that Directive, or which makes it possible to exercise a significant influence over the management of the issuer of asset-referenced tokens or the management of the crypto-asset service provider in which that holding subsists;
- reception and transmission of orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients
means the reception from a person of an order to purchase or sell one or more crypto-assets or to subscribe for one or more crypto-assets and the transmission of that order to a third party for execution;
- reserve of assets
means the basket of reserve assets securing the claim against the issuer;
- retail holder
means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside that person’s trade, business, craft or profession;
- structured deposit
means a structured deposit as defined in Article 4(1), point (43), of Directive 2014/65/EU.
- transaction
shall mean any change of the natural or legal person entitled to the asset-referenced token as a result of the transfer of the asset-referenced token from one distributed ledger address or account to another.
- utility token
means a type of crypto-asset that is only intended to provide access to a good or a service supplied by its issuer;