On 11 July 2025, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a public statement – Avoiding misperceptions: Guidance for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) offering unregulated services. The purpose of the statement is to set out some of the risks that are likely to arise and the issues that CASPs should pay particular attention to when providing unregulated products and/or services.
When discussing risks to investments the public statement notes, among other things, that a CASP’s regulated status under the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation may create a ‘halo effect’ that may often serve to provide potentially misguided reassurance in relation to the unregulated products and/or services offered by that CASP or related-entities offering unregulated product and/or services through the same platform. CASPs should therefore be particularly vigilant about avoiding any confusion in clients or prospective clients about the protections attached to unregulated products and/or services.
The public statement goes on to describe certain ‘dos and don’ts’ to mitigate the risks to investors particularly as CASPs have an obligation to act fairly, professionally and in accordance with the best interests of their clients and prospective clients.