Scope
Article 2
1. This Regulation applies to natural and legal persons and certain other undertakings that are engaged in the issuance, offer to the public and admission to trading of crypto-assets or that provide services related to crypto-assets in the Union. 2. This Regulation does not apply to: (a) persons who provide crypto-asset services exclusively for their parent companies, for their own subsidiaries or for other subsidiaries of their parent companies; (b) a liquidator or an administrator acting in the course of an insolvency procedure, except for the purposes of Article 47; (c) the ECB, central banks of the Member States when acting in their capacity as monetary authorities, or other public authorities of the Member States; (d) the European Investment Bank and its subsidiaries; (e) the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability Mechanism; (f) public international organisations. 3. This Regulation does not apply to crypto-assets that are unique and not fungible with other crypto-assets. 4. This Regulation does not apply to crypto-assets that qualify as one or more of the following: (a) financial instruments; (b) deposits, including structured deposits; (c) funds, except if they qualify as e-money tokens; (d) securitisation positions in the context of a securitisation as defined in Article 2, point (1), of Regulation (EU) 2017/2402; (e) non-life or life insurance products falling within the classes of insurance listed in Annexes I and II to Directive 2009/138/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 27 ) or reinsurance and retrocession contracts referred to in that Directive; (f) pension products that, under national law, are recognised as having the primary purpose of providing the investor with an income in retirement and that entitle the investor to certain benefits; (g) officially recognised occupational pension schemes falling within the scope of Directive (EU) 2016/2341 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 28 ) or Directive 2009/138/EC; (h) individual pension products for which a financial contribution from the employer is required by national law and where the employer or the employee has no choice as to the pension product or provider; (i) a pan-European Personal Pension Product as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Regulation (EU) 2019/1238 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 29 ) ; (j) social security schemes covered by Regulations (EC) No 883/2004 ( 30 ) and (EC) No 987/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 31 ) . 5. By 30 December 2024, ESMA shall, for the purposes of paragraph 4, point (a), of this Article issue guidelines in accordance with Article 16 of Regulation (EU) No 1095/2010 on the conditions and criteria for the qualification of crypto-assets as financial instruments. 6. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to Regulation (EU) No 1024/2013.