MiCAR Marketing Communications: Articles 66–68 Compliance Guide for CASPs

Every crypto-asset service provider authorised under MiCAR must comply with the marketing communications framework set out in Articles 66–68. With the CASP transitional period expiring on 1 July 2026, firms have a narrow window to audit existing materials before their authorisation becomes mandatory. Regulators across EU member states have already begun scrutinising marketing content — AFM (Netherlands), BaFin (Germany), and AMF (France) have each issued guidance on crypto-asset advertising. Non-compliant marketing is one of the fastest routes to supervisory action after authorisation.

This guide covers every requirement under Articles 66–68, maps them to specific obligations, explains the most common violations, and shows how to use document review to check your materials against the regulation text.

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The MiCAR Marketing Framework: Articles 66–68

MiCAR's marketing rules apply to all crypto-asset service providers from the date of authorisation. They cover:

• Article 66 — General principles: fairness, clarity, non-misleading content, risk warnings
• Article 67 — Specific content requirements for marketing communications
• Article 68 — NCA notification obligations (optional at member-state level)

These rules apply to all marketing communications regardless of medium: website content, social media posts, email campaigns, push notifications, sponsored content, influencer arrangements, white-label partnerships, and referral programme materials.

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Article 66: Core Principles

Fair, Clear, and Not Misleading

MiCAR Article 66(1) requires that all marketing communications must be:

• Fair — balanced presentation of benefits and risks; no cherry-picking of performance data
• Clear — understandable to the target audience; plain language required where retail clients are targeted
• Not misleading — no false impressions of returns, regulatory status, or risk levels

The "not misleading" standard is expansive. An omission can render an otherwise accurate statement misleading. For example, advertising "regulated by the AFM" without clarifying that CASP authorisation does not mean your crypto-assets are protected by the investor compensation scheme would likely be treated as misleading.

Identifiable as Marketing

Article 66(2) requires that marketing communications are clearly identifiable as such. In practice this means:

• Paid or sponsored content must be labelled "advertisement" or equivalent
• Native advertising and advertorials must carry clear disclosure
• Influencer posts must identify the commercial relationship with the CASP
• Email subject lines for promotional content should not disguise the commercial nature

Consistency with the Whitepaper

Where a crypto-asset has a published whitepaper under Articles 4–15, marketing communications must be consistent with the whitepaper content (Article 66(3)). This creates a practical compliance obligation:

• Review marketing materials whenever the whitepaper is updated
• Do not make performance claims in marketing that are not supported by the whitepaper's risk disclosure
• Any material included in marketing that is not in the whitepaper must not contradict or supplement the whitepaper in a misleading way

Mandatory Risk Warning

Article 66(5) requires a prominent risk warning in all marketing communications directed at retail investors:

"Crypto-assets may rapidly lose value. You may lose all the money you invest. You are not protected by any investor compensation scheme or deposit guarantee scheme."

The regulation specifies that this warning must:

• Appear in a legible font
• Not be obscured or reduced in prominence relative to other content
• Be present in every marketing communication, not just the first contact

ESMA has indicated in its supervisory guidelines that the warning should occupy a visible position — not buried in footnotes or hidden behind a "more information" link.

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Article 67: Specific Content Standards

Article 67 builds on the general principles with additional requirements for specific types of content.

Performance Data and Returns

Any reference to past or projected returns is subject to strict standards under Article 67(2):

Requirement	Detail
Past performance disclaimer	"Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results" must accompany any historical return data
Projection basis	Forward-looking statements must identify assumptions and note that projections may not materialise
Cherry-picking prohibition	Cannot present only the most favourable performance period without context
Basis currency	Returns must be stated in EUR or the investor's reference currency where material differences exist

Comparisons

If your marketing compares your services or products to competitors or traditional financial instruments, Article 67(3) requires that:

• Comparisons must be made on a like-for-like basis
• The basis of comparison must be stated
• You cannot compare regulated products (e.g., fund returns) with crypto-asset returns without flagging the fundamental differences in protection, liquidity, and regulatory status

Unsolicited Communications

Article 67(4) restricts unsolicited direct marketing. CASPs must comply with both MiCAR and applicable privacy law (GDPR, ePrivacy). Key requirements:

• Obtain appropriate consent before sending unsolicited electronic communications
• Provide a clear opt-out mechanism in every communication
• Maintain suppression lists and honour opt-outs immediately

Influencer and Third-Party Marketing

This is the area generating the most supervisory interest in 2025–2026. Under Article 66(4), all marketing communications rules apply regardless of who publishes the content:

• If a CASP pays, compensates, or gives incentives to a third party to promote its services, the CASP is responsible for ensuring compliance
• "Incentives" includes referral fees, free tokens, discounted fees, and exclusive access
• The CASP must have written agreements with influencers that require risk warning inclusion
• Influencer agreements must specify that content must be labelled as advertising

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Article 68: NCA Notification

Article 68 gives member-state NCAs the option to require CASPs to notify them before publishing marketing communications. The notification period is 30 calendar days.

As of March 2026, notification has been activated by:

• Netherlands (AFM) — mandatory 30-day pre-notification for certain marketing categories; check AFM guidance for current scope
• France (AMF) — pre-notification required for mass advertising campaigns
• Other NCAs: check the ESMA register of activated national options

Practical implication: If your CASP operates cross-border or targets retail investors in France or the Netherlands, build a 30-day review buffer into your marketing calendar. Submit draft materials, not just final versions — NCAs can request changes during the notification period.

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Audit Checklist: Reviewing Your Marketing Materials

Use this checklist to assess existing and new marketing materials against Articles 66–68:

Identification and Labelling

• All marketing materials clearly identified as advertising (not editorial or objective information)
• Influencer and affiliate content contractually required to carry advertising disclosure
• Sponsored content on third-party platforms carries visible sponsorship labels
• Email marketing identifies commercial purpose in subject line or pre-header

Risk Warning Compliance

• Mandatory risk warning present in all communications targeting retail investors
• Warning is legible and in a font size comparable to the main content
• Warning is not obscured by design elements, images, or other text
• Warning appears at the top or in a prominent position (not only in footer)
• Language of the warning matches the language of the communication

Content Standards

• No unqualified use of the word "guaranteed" in relation to returns
• No comparisons with deposit products, savings accounts, or investor-protected instruments without explicit disclaimers
• Past performance data accompanied by the required disclaimer
• Projected returns identified as projections with stated assumptions
• No cherry-picked time periods used to present favourable performance
• Regulatory status statement accurate (e.g., "authorised as a CASP" not "FCA-regulated" if not applicable)

Whitepaper Consistency

• Marketing claims cross-checked against the current whitepaper
• Material deviations from whitepaper risk disclosures flagged for legal review
• Process in place to update marketing materials when whitepaper is revised

NCA Notification

• Confirmed whether home-state NCA has activated Article 68 notification requirement
• Confirmed whether any host-state NCAs have activated notification for cross-border campaigns
• 30-day notification buffer built into campaign planning calendar
• Notification records maintained for supervisory review

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Common Violations and How to Avoid Them

Based on supervisory guidance and enforcement actions across EU member states, the most frequent MiCAR marketing violations are:

1. Risk warning absent or insufficiently prominent The most common finding. Firms often include the warning in small print or in a separate "terms and conditions" document. The warning must be in the marketing communication itself.

2. Misleading regulatory status claims Statements like "licensed by [NCA]" imply a level of protection that MiCAR does not provide. Always accompany authorisation references with a statement that crypto-assets are not covered by deposit guarantee or investor compensation schemes.

3. Influencer content without disclosure Influencer campaigns frequently omit the advertising label and risk warning. The CASP bears responsibility — not the influencer. NCAs are actively monitoring crypto-related social media content.

4. Return comparisons without like-for-like basis Comparing crypto-asset returns to bank deposit rates or equity indices without disclosing the fundamentally different risk, liquidity, and protection profile is treated as misleading under Article 66.

5. Inconsistency with whitepaper Where an issuer's whitepaper contains conservative risk disclosures, marketing materials that present the product in a substantially more positive light will be treated as inconsistent under Article 66(3).

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Using AI Review for Marketing Compliance

The document review tool on financialregulations.eu supports marketing communications compliance review. Upload your marketing materials (PDF, DOCX, HTML, or TXT) and use the MiCAR Marketing Check quick-start template to get an article-by-article assessment against Articles 66–68.

The review will:

• Flag missing or non-prominent risk warnings
• Identify potentially misleading performance claims
• Check for prohibited language patterns
• Map issues to specific article references for legal sign-off

For a full CASP authorisation checklist covering all 10 MiCAR Title V requirements, see our dedicated guide.

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Timeline: What to Do Before 1 July 2026

Action	Recommended By
Audit all existing marketing materials against Articles 66–68	April 2026
Update influencer and affiliate agreements	April 2026
Confirm NCA notification requirements in home + host states	April 2026
Submit marketing materials for NCA pre-notification (where required)	May 2026
Establish ongoing compliance review process for new materials	Before authorisation
Train marketing team on MiCAR requirements	Before first CASP-authorised campaign

The July 2026 deadline applies to the CASP authorisation itself — but marketing compliance obligations apply from the moment authorisation is granted. Firms that have been operating under transitional provisions and have not yet updated their materials are at particular risk of being found non-compliant on day one.