Abstract

This paper aims to study tokens’ legal status in the light of the European Commission’s proposal for the Regulation Markets in Crypto-assets (abbreviated as MiCAR). Because they are not tangible, digital assets have many different features to traditional assets. Their unique qualities mean that many digital assets do not fit easily into current categories or definitions. While trying to reduce fragmentation, the MiCAR aims at creating an EU framework for crypto assets that fall outside the scope of existing EU financial regulation. But the question is: do tokens substantially differ from «financial instruments»? This paper argues that sometimes it might prove to be a distinction without a difference