Prohibition of monetary and non-monetary benefits under MiCA

ESMA Q&A 2087 on Prohibition of monetary and non-monetary benefits under MiCA.

Authority	ESMA
Q&A ID	ESMA_QA_2087
Status	Answer Published
Published	29 January 2024
Legal basis	Article 80 MiCA; Article 80(2) MiCA
Source	ESMA Q&A

Question

Does the prohibition set out under Article 80(2) to receive "remuneration, discount or non-monetary benefit in return for routing orders received from clients" apply to the crypto-asset services of receiving and transmitting orders on behalf of clients as well as the execution of orders on behalf of clients?

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Answer

Yes.

Article 80(2) provides that “crypto-asset service providers receiving and transmitting orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients shall not receive any remuneration, discount or non-monetary benefit in return for routing orders received from clients [... ] to another crypto-asset service provider”, meaning that it is prohibited to receive payments or benefits when providing the service of receiving and transmitting orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients.

In addition, Article 80(2) provides that “crypto-asset service providers receiving and transmitting orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients shall not receive any remuneration, discount or non-monetary benefit in return for routing orders received from clients to a particular trading platform for crypto-assets...” meaning that it is prohibited to receive payments or benefits when providing the service of executing orders for crypto-assets on behalf of clients.

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Source: ESMA original document