# Article 3 — Definitions

**Source:** [Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 — EUR-Lex](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R1113)

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:

1. '**terrorist financing**' means terrorist financing as defined in Article 1(5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849;
2. '**money laundering**' means the money laundering activities referred to in Article 1(3) and (4) of Directive (EU) 2015/849;
3. '**payer**' means a person that holds a payment account and allows a transfer of funds from that payment account or, where there is no payment account, that gives a transfer of funds order;
4. '**payee**' means a person that is the intended recipient of the transfer of funds;
5. '**payment service provider**' means the categories of payment service provider referred to in Article 1(1) of Directive (EU) 2015/2366, natural or legal persons benefiting from a waiver pursuant to Article 32 thereof and legal persons benefiting from a waiver pursuant to Article 9 of Directive 2009/110/EC, providing transfer of funds services;
6. '**intermediary payment service provider**' means a payment service provider that is not the payment service provider of the payer or of the payee and that receives and transmits a transfer of funds on behalf of the payment service provider of the payer or of the payee or of another intermediary payment service provider;
7. '**payment account**' means a payment account as defined in Article 4, point (12), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
8. '**funds**' means funds as defined in Article 4, point (25), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
9. '**transfer of funds**' means any transaction at least partially carried out by electronic means on behalf of a payer through a payment service provider, with a view to making funds available to a payee through a payment service provider, irrespective of whether the payer and the payee are the same person and irrespective of whether the payment service provider of the payer and that of the payee are one and the same, including:
   1. a credit transfer as defined in Article 4, point (24), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
   2. a direct debit as defined in Article 4, point (23), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366;
   3. a money remittance as defined in Article 4, point (22), of Directive (EU) 2015/2366, whether national or cross-border;
   4. a transfer carried out using a payment card, an electronic money instrument, a mobile phone or any other digital or IT prepaid or postpaid device with similar characteristics;
10. '**transfer of crypto-assets**' means any transaction with the aim of moving crypto-assets from one distributed ledger address, crypto-asset account or other device allowing the storage of crypto-assets to another, carried out by at least one crypto-asset service provider acting on behalf of either an originator or a beneficiary, irrespective of whether the originator and the beneficiary are the same person and irrespective of whether the crypto-asset service provider of the originator and that of the beneficiary are one and the same;
11. '**batch file transfer**' means a bundle of several individual transfers of funds or transfers of crypto-assets put together for transmission;
12. '**unique transaction identifier**' means a combination of letters, numbers or symbols determined by the payment service provider, in accordance with the protocols of the payment and settlement systems or messaging systems used for the transfer of funds, or determined by a crypto-asset service provider, which permits the traceability of the transaction back to the payer and the payee or the traceability of the transfer of crypto-assets back to the originator and the beneficiary;
13. '**person-to-person transfer of crypto-assets**' means a transfer of crypto-assets without the involvement of any crypto-asset service provider;
14. '**crypto-asset**' means a [crypto-asset](broken://pages/QwQhIxiG33CB884iJ3o4) as defined in Article 3(1), point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, except where falling within the categories listed in Article 2(2), (3) and (4) of that Regulation or otherwise qualifying as funds;
15. '**crypto-asset service provider**' means a [crypto-asset service provider](broken://pages/kniUBk2SBkl8QA0HOsJu) as defined in Article 3(1), point (15), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, where performing one or more [crypto-asset services](broken://pages/tnLROuvADmY9V2GJp5mY) as defined in Article 3(1), point (16), of that Regulation;
16. '**intermediary crypto-asset service provider**' means a crypto-asset service provider that is not the crypto-asset service provider of the originator or of the beneficiary and that receives and transmits a transfer of crypto-assets on behalf of the crypto-asset service provider of the originator or of the beneficiary, or of another intermediary crypto-asset service provider;
17. '**crypto-asset automated teller machines**' or '**crypto-ATMs**' means physical or on-line electronic terminals that enable a crypto-asset service provider to perform, in particular, the activity of [transfer services for crypto-assets](broken://pages/l1kjFCMNwqqCXjAe9BNb), as referred to in Article 3(1), point (16)(j), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114;
18. '**distributed ledger address**' means an alphanumeric code that identifies an address on a network using [distributed ledger technology (DLT)](broken://pages/EPwAV7pkThvDAISZgFsk) or similar technology where crypto-assets can be sent or received;
19. '**crypto-asset account**' means an account held by a crypto-asset service provider in the name of one or more natural or legal persons and that can be used for the execution of transfers of crypto-assets;
20. '**self-hosted address**' means a distributed ledger address not linked to either of the following:
    1. a crypto-asset service provider;
    2. an entity not established in the Union and providing services similar to those of a crypto-asset service provider;
21. '**originator**' means a person that holds a crypto-asset account with a crypto-asset service provider, a distributed ledger address or a device allowing the storage of crypto-assets, and allows a transfer of crypto-assets from that account, distributed ledger address, or device, or, where there is no such account, distributed ledger address, or device, a person that orders or initiates a transfer of crypto-assets;
22. '**beneficiary**' means a person that is the intended recipient of the transfer of crypto-assets;
23. '**legal entity identifier**' or '**LEI**' means a unique alphanumeric reference code based on the ISO 17442 standard assigned to a legal entity;
24. '**distributed ledger technology**' or '**DLT**' means [distributed ledger technology](broken://pages/EPwAV7pkThvDAISZgFsk) as defined in Article 3(1), point (1), of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114.

## What this means in practice

A few definitions deserve special attention:

* **Self-hosted address (20).** The definition is *negative*: an address is "self-hosted" if it is **not** linked to a CASP **and not** linked to a non-EU entity providing CASP-like services. So an address controlled by a non-EU exchange that operates similarly to an EU CASP is **not** a self-hosted address. The self-hosted-address ownership-control check in Articles 14(5) and 16(2) is therefore not triggered merely because the counterparty entity is outside the Union.
* **Crypto-ATMs (17).** Crypto-ATMs are not a separate regulated activity — they are a *channel* through which a CASP can perform transfer services. Operating a crypto-ATM in the EU therefore presupposes [CASP authorisation under MiCA](broken://pages/NBDFLWbUi64s4ZHQrtx3).
* **Transfer of crypto-assets (10).** The "moving crypto-assets … from one … address, account or other device to another" is what triggers ToFR — *as long as at least one CASP is acting on behalf of either side*. Pure on-chain peer-to-peer movements without CASP involvement are out (see Art. 2(4)).
* **Originator (21) vs. payer (3).** Note the structural symmetry but the different conceptual basis: a payer is defined by holding a *payment account*; an originator can be defined by holding a *crypto-asset account*, a *distributed ledger address*, or even just a *device* — or by *ordering or initiating* a transfer. The breadth is deliberate, to cover situations where the customer never opens an account with the CASP (e.g. crypto-ATM cash-to-coin).
* **EMTs are not "funds".** Although EMTs feel money-like, ToFR treats them as crypto-assets (Art. 2 final subparagraph). The definition of "funds" (8) imports the [Directive 2015/2366 (PSD2) definition](broken://pages/XlKuYKIx43cQdLYJCHwf), which is what governs the Chapter II perimeter.


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