What is the ESMA 2025 Taxonomy?
The ESMA 2025 taxonomy is a structured vocabulary, a formal dictionary of data points, that defines how crypto-asset whitepapers must be tagged in iXBRL format. Developed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), this taxonomy is the technical backbone of MiCAR's whitepaper disclosure requirements.
Every iXBRL whitepaper submitted under MiCAR must reference and comply with this taxonomy. If a tag is missing, incorrectly applied, or uses the wrong data type, the whitepaper will fail validation and be rejected by the national competent authority (NCA).
What problem does the taxonomy solve?
Without a shared standard, every issuer would tag their whitepaper differently. One might label the issuer name as "companyName", another as "issuerLegalEntity", a third as "entityName". Regulators would have no way to automatically compare or aggregate data across whitepapers.
The taxonomy gives everyone the same labels. When every whitepaper uses micar:IssuerLegalName for the issuer's legal name, ESMA's systems can extract and compare that field across all submissions. That is what makes the central register work.
What is in the taxonomy?
The concepts mirror the structure of the Implementing Technical Standards (ITS 2024/2984). The main groups:
Issuer Information
Tags covering the legal identity, registration, governance structure, and contact details of the entity issuing the crypto-asset. This includes the legal name, LEI (Legal Entity Identifier) where applicable, registered address, and details of the management body.
Crypto-Asset Description
Tags describing the crypto-asset itself: its type (utility token, asset-referenced token, etc.), the underlying distributed ledger technology, the consensus mechanism used, the functionality the token provides, and the rights attached to it.
Offering and Trading Details
Tags for the details of the public offering or admission to trading: the number of tokens to be issued, pricing mechanisms, distribution strategy, use of proceeds, and any applicable withdrawal rights.
Risk Disclosures
MiCAR requires specific risk disclosures, and the taxonomy includes tags for each mandated risk category. These include financial risks, technology risks, regulatory risks, and the standardized warning statement that must appear prominently in every whitepaper.
Sustainability Indicators
One of MiCAR's distinctive requirements is the disclosure of sustainability data. The taxonomy includes tags for energy consumption of the consensus mechanism (mandatory for all crypto-assets), and for assets exceeding 500,000 kWh annually, additional tags for renewable energy usage, Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions, and energy intensity metrics.
Technology and Security
Tags covering the technical architecture of the crypto-asset, including the DLT protocol used, security measures, audit information, and any smart contract details.
Data types
Each concept in the taxonomy expects a specific data type:
- Text (string): Free-text fields like the issuer name or risk disclosure descriptions
- Monetary: Numerical values with a currency attribute
- Integer: Whole numbers, such as the total number of tokens
- Decimal: Numbers with decimal places, such as energy consumption in kWh
- Date: ISO 8601 formatted dates
- Boolean: True/false values for yes/no disclosures
- Enumeration: Values selected from a predefined list (e.g., consensus mechanism type)
Using the wrong data type (for instance, tagging a date field with plain text) will cause validation failure.
Validation
Before you can submit to an NCA, the iXBRL file must pass validation against the taxonomy schema. The checks:
- Completeness: Are all mandatory tags present?
- Data type compliance: Does each tagged value match the expected data type?
- Taxonomy reference: Does the file correctly reference the ESMA 2025 taxonomy?
- Structural integrity: Is the iXBRL markup well-formed and valid?
- Business rules: Do the tagged values satisfy any conditional requirements (e.g., if energy consumption exceeds 500,000 kWh, are the additional sustainability indicators present)?
Our iXBRL conversion service includes full taxonomy validation as part of the delivery, so the file you receive has already passed all checks.
How the taxonomy and the ITS relate
The ITS 2024/2984 tells you what information a MiCAR whitepaper must disclose. The taxonomy turns each of those requirements into a formal XBRL tag that goes into the iXBRL file. You can not satisfy one without satisfying the other.
Versioning
ESMA may update the taxonomy as MiCAR evolves. Each version has a unique identifier and your iXBRL file must reference the version it was tagged against. Keep an eye on ESMA's publications for updates that could affect your submission.
We handle the taxonomy for you
Whether you are drafting a new whitepaper or converting an existing one to iXBRL, we take care of all taxonomy tagging and validation.
