When the offer targets several countries: what to do first
When a token offer reaches investors in more than one EU member state, the first task is not marketing copy. It is establishing which competent authority already holds your whitepaper notification under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) and confirming that authorisation extends to every state where the offer is made public. Everything else follows from that single check.
Basis
Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) builds the offer of crypto-assets to the public, and the trading of crypto-assets, on a single authorisation recognised across the Union. An issuer that has notified a whitepaper to its home competent authority does not file a fresh notification in every member state where the offer later appears. The mechanism runs the other way: the home authority passes the file to the host member states named in the notification.
The practical point is that the passporting route only covers the countries actually listed. An offer that expands into a new country without updating that list is not covered there, whatever the authorisation looked like at home.
What changes in practice
For an offer that targets several countries at once, the consequence is timing, not duplicated paperwork. Marketing that starts in a host state before the home authority has processed the passporting for that state is marketing without cover there. The gap is not always visible until a regulator or a counterparty asks for the notification record.
The same logic applies to personal data collected from prospective investors in those states. Where investor onboarding relies on a legitimate interest basis rather than consent, that basis needs its own dated record before the campaign runs in several jurisdictions at once — see Legitimate interest assessment and the evidence. A campaign that runs first and documents later carries the same exposure as a notification filed after the fact.
Where crypto-asset transfers to investors cross a border through a service provider, the information travelling with that transfer sits under a separate regime, described below.
What to do first
- Compliance officer confirms which competent authority currently holds the whitepaper notification and its exact scope.
- Legal counsel checks whether the notification already lists every country where the offer is, or will be, made public.
- Where a country is missing from that list, the issuer submits or updates the passporting notification before publishing there.
- Marketing lead holds public launch material for a new country until written confirmation of passporting arrives.
- Data protection function records the legitimate interest basis for investor communications before onboarding begins in each new market.
- Founder or board keeps a single dated log of each notification submitted and each host state confirmed.
Who decides
The home competent authority decides whether the notification file is complete and whether passporting proceeds to the states listed in it. Host state authorities receive the passported notification; they do not re-assess the whitepaper on its merits. Under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA), the relevant clock runs from the home authority's own confirmation of the notification, not from the date the issuer submitted it and not from the date marketing began.
| Who | Role | What they check |
|---|---|---|
| Home competent authority | Receives and confirms the whitepaper notification | Completeness of the file and the list of host states |
| Host state authority | Receives the passported notification | That the notification actually names its state |
| Issuer | Files, updates, and holds the record | Whether every country of the offer is covered before launch |
Scenarios
- If the offer is already live in one country and now expands to a second, pause new-country marketing until passporting for that specific country is confirmed in writing, not merely submitted.
- If the token in question is asset-referenced rather than a plain utility token, the notification route and the deciding authority differ, and the offer should not proceed on a utility-token assumption.
- If crypto-asset transfers to investors cross a border through a service provider, the information accompanying those transfers falls under Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 (TFR), separately from the whitepaper notification.
What this page does not decide
This page does not establish who actually stands behind the counterparty issuing the tokens, and it does not verify a counterparty operating out of Austria. That verification runs through a separate check — see Counterparty report austria.
It does not confirm the authenticity of the whitepaper itself or the corporate documents behind the issuer. That confirmation runs through a document-level check — see Document report austria.
It does not establish whether the jurisdiction hosting the issuer carries restrictions relevant to a multi-country offer. That question runs through a jurisdiction-level check — see Jurisdiction report austria.
Related reading
A related situation, where the question is the stability of the token rather than the reach of the offer — see When a stablecoin peg is challenged: what to do.
Verified
Checked against the current text of the two regulations named below. Both entered into force on 30 December 2024 and are subject to periodic technical amendment, so the notification and passporting mechanics should be re-checked against the authority's own current guidance before a launch date is fixed.
Primary sources: Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA); Regulation (EU) 2023/1113 (TFR).
FAQ
What is the first step when the offer targets several countries?
Confirm which competent authority holds the current whitepaper notification under Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) and whether that notification already lists the countries where the offer is, or will be, public.
Which deadline is already running?
The clock for passporting starts when the home authority confirms the notification is complete, not when the issuer submits it and not when marketing to a new country begins.
Who decides, and on what evidence?
The home competent authority decides, based on the completeness of the notification file and the list of host states named in it. Host state authorities receive the passported notification without re-assessing the whitepaper themselves.