An asset-referenced token may not be offered to the public or admitted to trading in the Union unless the offeror is the issuer and is either (a) a legal person or other undertaking established in the Union authorised by its home Member State competent authority under Article 21, or (b) a credit institution complying with Article 17. Third parties may offer or seek admission only with the issuer’s written consent and must comply with Articles 27, 29 and 40. Other undertakings may issue tokens only if their legal form and prudential supervision afford equivalent protection for third parties. 

Exemptions apply where, over a rolling 12-month period, the average outstanding value of tokens never exceeds EUR 5 000 000 and the issuer is not linked to a network of exempt issuers, or where offers are addressed solely to qualified investors and tokens can only be held by such investors; exempt issuers must prepare a crypto-asset white paper under Article 19 and notify it and, on request, marketing communications to their home Member State competent authority. Authorisations under paragraph 1(a) and approvals of crypto-asset white papers under the cited Articles are valid throughout the Union.