Reed Smith Launches Aquarius for MiCAR Compliance
Reed Smith, a global law firm, announced that its technology division, Reed Smith Legal Solutions, has launched Aquarius, a new automated legal services platform designed to help crypto-asset issuers and offerors comply with the EU’s landmark Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR).
Aquarius is designed to enable issuers and offerors to bring their crypto-assets to market faster while maintaining legal quality. Certain services on the Aquarius platform are automated, including crypto-asset categorisation, white paper generation, ESG compliance, LEI and DTI generation, and due diligence, while others are lawyer-led, including legal consultancy, legal opinions, and bespoke advice.
The Aquarius platform features a modular design, enabling users to select individual service components based on their needs. The platform interface offers an intuitive, guided user experience, and its outputs are underpinned by Reed Smith’s legal and regulatory experience. Reed Smith continually updates the platform’s logic to reflect legislative changes to MiCAR.
Affordability is one of the Aquarius platform’s key differentiators. For the automated service components, users benefit from transparent, competitive pricing that makes high-quality MiCAR legal and compliance support more accessible and cost-effective. This enables users to manage their legal and compliance obligations with greater cost certainty while benefiting from a platform created and maintained by a global law firm with extensive MiCAR experience.
Reed Smith will expand Aquarius’ logic to include the regulations of other key jurisdictions, such as the UK, the UAE, Hong Kong, and Singapore, as they introduce their own white paper requirements. This expanded scope will enable users to issue tokens across multiple jurisdictions.
“The European crypto-asset market has entered a new phase of regulatory maturity under MiCAR, and businesses need tools that are both practical and legally robust,” said Lee Zoeller, Chair of Reed Smith Legal Solutions. “Aquarius reflects our commitment to helping clients navigate complex regulatory frameworks with greater confidence, efficiency, and speed. By combining innovative legal technology with Reed Smith’s regulatory experience, we are delivering a purpose-built solution for the evolving crypto-asset landscape in Europe.”
“Aquarius was designed to make MiCAR compliance more accessible and operationally practical for businesses entering the EU market or expanding their crypto-asset offerings within it,” said Panos Katsambas, a partner at Reed Smith and Global co-lead of the firm’s Financial Industry Group. “We wanted to create a platform that combines legal rigour with usability, enabling firms to move through token categorisation, white paper preparation, and compliance workflows in a more streamlined and cost-effective way.”
“Legal compliance is a significant undertaking for a crypto-asset issuer or offeror. We have invested considerable time and effort to ensure that the Aquarius platform is not only intuitive and legally robust, but also enjoyable to use. We are confident that we have developed a unique offering that is well advanced. It provides measurable value to our clients from day one,” said Tariq Rasheed, a partner at Reed Smith and lead lawyer for Aquarius.
Rasheed added, “Aquarius draws on the full depth of Reed Smith’s financial services experience. Clients are not just getting technology; they are also benefiting from a firm that truly understands the regulatory environment in which they operate. The platform’s launch is timely given the end of the grandfathering period under MiCAR on 1 July 2026, after which market participants must comply with the regulation or face potential enforcement action.”
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a dynamic international law firm dedicated to helping clients advance their businesses. With an inclusive culture and innovative mindset, it delivers smarter, more creative legal services that drive better outcomes for clients.
