EU CRYPTO REGISTER · GLOSSARY · LAST VERIFIED
What is reverse solicitation under MiCA?
Reverse solicitation is the narrow exception in MiCA Article 61 that allows a third-country firm to provide a crypto-asset service to an EU client when the relationship was initiated exclusively at the client's own initiative. ESMA's December 2024 guidelines read this exception strictly: virtually any form of marketing or promotion that reaches EU clients defeats it.
What is the exact legal definition?
MiCA Article 61(1): "Where a client established or situated in the Union initiates at its own exclusive initiative the provision of a crypto-asset service or activity by a third-country firm, the requirement for authorisation under Article 59 shall not apply." Article 61(2): "An initiative by a client as referred to in paragraph 1 shall not entitle a third-country firm to market, otherwise than through the client, new categories of crypto-assets or crypto-asset services to that client." Source: Article 61 MiCA.
What does it actually mean in practice?
What 'exclusive initiative' means. ESMA's Final Report on Guidelines on Reverse Solicitation (ESMA35-1872330276-1899, 17 December 2024) interprets "exclusive initiative" as the client having approached the third-country firm without any form of solicitation by, or on behalf of, the firm. The bar is high: the burden is on the third-country firm to prove the client initiated the relationship.
What defeats the exception. Per the ESMA guidelines, virtually any form of marketing, advertising, promotion, sponsored content, press releases, influencer endorsements, paid search ads or promotional emails that reaches EEA clients defeats the exception, even if the firm did not target EEA residents specifically. The mere fact that EEA users can sign up via a globally accessible website is itself a marketing channel under the guidelines' approach.
The 'no new categories' limit. Even when reverse solicitation applies, Article 61(2) prohibits the third-country firm from then marketing new categories of crypto-assets or new services to that client. A reverse-solicited custody relationship cannot quietly broaden into derivatives access.
Burden of proof. A third-country firm relying on reverse solicitation must be able to demonstrate, on the firm's own records, that each individual client relationship was initiated by the client alone. ESMA's guidelines recommend documenting the channel of first contact, the absence of marketing exposure, and the client's explicit acknowledgement of the firm's third-country status.
Where do we see this in the public record?
| Example | What it shows |
|---|---|
| What is allowed | An EEA-resident user who, after research conducted entirely on their own initiative, opens an account on a third-country exchange they had never heard of via the firm |
| What is NOT allowed | A user who saw the firm's Twitter posts, a paid Google ad, or a YouTube influencer review and then signed up |
| Documentation expected | Per-client record showing how the relationship started and how the absence of any marketing exposure was established |
| Geo-blocking implication | A third-country website that is not geo-blocked to EEA visitors and that hosts marketing copy is itself a solicitation channel under the guidelines |
What else do users ask about this?
Can a third-country exchange rely on reverse solicitation indefinitely?
In principle yes, but ESMA's guidelines make it operationally costly. The firm must prove per-client initiative, must not market new categories to those clients, and must not benefit from any general-marketing reach into the EEA.
Does an English-language website count as marketing into the EEA?
ESMA's guidelines say the test is whether the firm has actively solicited clients in a Member State, not whether the language is English. Generic English-language content alone is not necessarily solicitation, but accompanying marketing tactics (SEO targeting EEA queries, EU-targeted ads) typically are.
What about referrals from friends?
A pure peer-to-peer referral with no involvement from the third-country firm may preserve the reverse-solicitation defence, but referrals that the firm rewards or facilitates do not.
Which sources is this entry based on?
- MiCA Article 61 - Reverse solicitation
- ESMA Final Report on Reverse Solicitation Guidelines (ESMA35-1872330276-1899) (17 December 2024)
- ESMA Compliance table on reverse-solicitation guidelines
- MiCA Article 59 - Prohibition of unauthorised service
Glossary entries on The Crypto Register are sourced from primary legal texts (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, ESMA guidelines, national regulator publications). They are not legal advice. Last verified .