Are crypto funds insured under MiCA?

MiCA requires authorised custodians to protect client ownership and separate client assets from the custodian’s estate. The regulation creates no €100,000 crypto guarantee or EU investor compensation fund for CASP customers.

What MiCA does protect

Article 70 requires a CASP that holds client crypto assets or access keys to safeguard the client’s ownership rights. The safeguards must also apply if the provider becomes insolvent. The provider must not use client assets for its own account.

Under Article 75(7), custody providers must keep client crypto legally segregated from their own estate so that the provider’s creditors cannot claim it merely because the CASP fails. MiCA also requires custody policies, position statements and procedures to return assets. Under Article 75(8), custodians are liable for losses caused by incidents attributable to them, up to the market value of the lost crypto-asset.

What MiCA does not provide

The EU supervisory authorities (EBA, EIOPA and ESMA) warned in October 2025 that MiCA clients “will not benefit from compensation schemes”. Under Article 81(9), a CASP that gives advice or manages portfolios must also warn clients that crypto-assets are not covered by investor compensation or deposit guarantee schemes. Legal and operational requirements reduce some risks, but market, cyber, custody and insolvency risks remain.

• An EU-wide guarantee does not cover a fall in the market value of crypto.
• CASP insolvency does not trigger automatic repayment.
• MiCA gives no blanket guarantee against hacks, fraud or operational failures.
• MiCA protections do not cover products or providers outside MiCA’s scope.

What about euros held by an exchange?

Article 70 treats client money separately from crypto. A CASP that receives client funds generally has to place them with a credit institution or central bank by the end of the business day after receipt. The CASP must keep the funds in an identifiable separate account. CASPs that are banks, payment institutions or e-money institutions follow their own safeguarding rules instead (Article 70(5)).

MiCA licence versus bank licence

Checks before depositing

1. Check whether the platform appears on the current MiCA exchange list. Then confirm the exact legal entity in the official CASP data.
2. Check that custody is one of the services recorded for the entity’s MiCA route.
3. Read how client crypto and fiat funds are held and segregated.
4. Check whether the service is provided by the EU entity or a global affiliate.
5. Keep records and avoid leaving more assets on a platform than you need to use.

A MiCA route applies to named services. The CASP licence guide explains the recorded scope and prudential safeguards.