Regulation (EU) 2022/858, known as the EU DLT Pilot Regime, is an in-force European Union regulation for market infrastructures using distributed ledger technology. The regime applies mainly from 23 March 2023 and is designed for crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments under MiFID II, rather than for the broader consumer crypto-asset market covered by MiCA.
The DLT Pilot Regime creates a controlled framework in which approved operators may test trading, settlement, or combined trading-and-settlement models for eligible DLT financial instruments. It is directly applicable across EU Member States and sits alongside existing financial-market legislation, including MiFID II, MiFIR and the Central Securities Depositories Regulation.
EU DLT Pilot Regime overview
The regulation recognises three categories of DLT market infrastructure: a DLT multilateral trading facility, a DLT settlement system and a DLT trading and settlement system. Authorised investment firms and market operators may apply to operate a DLT MTF, authorised central securities depositories may apply to operate a DLT SS, and both groups may apply for a combined DLT TSS. ESMA also notes that new entrants may seek temporary authorisations alongside a DLT Pilot application.
The regime is aimed at tokenised financial instruments. Article 3 limits eligible instruments to shares below a market-capitalisation threshold, certain bonds and money-market instruments below an issue-size threshold, and certain collective investment undertakings below an assets-under-management threshold. It also imposes aggregate market-value caps for instruments admitted to trading or recorded on a DLT market infrastructure.
Key provisions of Regulation (EU) 2022/858
- Specific permissions: Operators need a specific permission from the relevant national competent authority to run a DLT MTF, DLT SS or DLT TSS under the pilot framework.
- Targeted exemptions: Competent authorities may grant exemptions from selected MiFID II, MiFIR or CSDR requirements where the operator justifies the exemption and appropriate safeguards are attached.
- Operational safeguards: Operators must publish clear operating rules, document the DLT used, maintain IT and cyber arrangements, segregate client assets where relevant and address liability for losses.
- Supervisory reporting: Operators report to competent authorities, while ESMA performs coordination and convergence functions and publishes information on authorised infrastructures.
Jurisdictional impact for DLT market infrastructures
For the European Union, the regime is a market-structure experiment rather than a broad crypto licensing law. It does not replace MiCA, securities law or national company-law rules. Instead, it creates a limited mechanism for supervised market infrastructures to test DLT where standard financial-market rules may not fit the technology. The regulation also preserves investor-protection, market-integrity and financial-stability objectives, including through compensatory measures and withdrawal powers.
As of ESMA's January 2026 authorised-infrastructure list, the EU had authorised DLT market infrastructures in several Member States, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, France and Spain. The listed permissions cover DLT settlement systems, DLT multilateral trading facilities and DLT trading-and-settlement systems, with exemptions depending on the operator and infrastructure type.
Status, review and amendment context
The regulation was adopted on 30 May 2022, published in the Official Journal on 2 June 2022, entered into force on 22 June 2022, and applies mainly from 23 March 2023. Some provisions applied earlier, including specified articles from 22 June 2022 and Article 16 from 4 July 2021.
Article 14 required ESMA to report to the Commission on the functioning of the pilot regime. ESMA published its review report on 25 June 2025, finding limited uptake but noting that the regime had encouraged experimentation in DLT-based trading, settlement and compliance. On 4 December 2025, the Commission adopted a Market Integration and Supervision Package that includes proposed amendments to Regulation (EU) 2022/858. As of 14 July 2026, the base regulation remains in force while that broader legislative proposal remains a separate amendment process for editor monitoring.