MiCA Recital (83) — preamble

(83) Depending on the services they provide and due to the specific risks raised by each type of services, crypto-asset service providers should be subject to requirements specific to those services. Crypto-asset service providers providing custody and administration of crypto-assets on behalf of clients should conclude an agreement with their clients with certain mandatory provisions and should establish and implement a custody policy, which should be made available to clients upon their request in an electronic format. Such agreement should specify, inter alia, the nature of the service provided, which could include the holding of crypto-assets belonging to clients or the means of access to such cryptoassets, in which case the client might keep control of the crypto-assets in custody. Alternatively, the crypto-assets or the means of access to them could be transferred to the full control of the crypto-asset service provider. Crypto-asset service providers that hold crypto-assets belonging to clients, or the means of access to such crypto-assets, should ensure that those crypto-assets are not used for their own account. The crypto-asset service providers should ensure that all crypto-assets held are always unencumbered. Those crypto-asset service providers should also be held liable for any losses resulting from an incident related to information and communication technology (‘ICT’), including an incident resulting from a cyber-attack, theft or any malfunctions. Hardware or software providers of non-custodial wallets should not fall within the scope of this Regulation.