DORA (EU Digital Operational Resilience Act): What It Is and How It Affects CoinW Users

2025-10-27Beginner News
2025-10-27
Beginner News
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DORA (EU Digital Operational Resilience Act): What It Is and How It Affects CoinW Users

 

TL;DR: DORA—Regulation (EU) 2022/2554—has applied in the EU since 17 January 2025. It requires financial entities (including CASPs authorised under MiCA) to implement robust ICT risk management, test operational resilience, report major incidents, and oversee critical technology vendors. For CoinW users, this means stronger protection against outages and cyber events, clearer communications during incidents, and improved continuity of services.

 

 

1) What is DORA?

 

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) is the EU’s horizontal framework for ICT risk and resilience in the financial sector: prevent incidents, withstand disruption, and recover quickly. It applies directly across Member States and harmonises how firms manage technology risks, test critical capabilities, and oversee third-party ICT providers.

 

Legal reference: Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (DORA). See also the EIOPA overview.

 

2) Key dates & scope

 

Date What happened
14 Dec 2022 DORA adopted by EU co-legislators.
27 Dec 2022 Published in the Official Journal (OJEU L 333).
17 Jan 2025 DORA applies across the EU.

 

Who is in scope?

 

  • Banks, insurers, investment firms, trading venues, CCPs/CSDs, payment institutions, e-money institutions, etc.
  • Crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) authorised under MiCA, and issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs).
  • Critical ICT third-party providers (CTPPs), under an EU-level oversight framework.

 

Key definitions

 

“ICT” covers information and communication technology—including cloud, data centres, software, networks, and security services—used to deliver financial services.

 

3) Core requirements under DORA

 

ICT risk management

 

  • Governance: board-level accountability and clear risk ownership.
  • Controls: asset inventories, patching, secure configurations, backup & recovery.
  • Continuity: ICT business continuity and disaster recovery plans (BCP/DRP).

 

Incident reporting

 

  • Classify incidents; notify authorities for major ICT incidents within set timelines.
  • Maintain logs and post-incident reviews to prevent recurrence.

 

Testing & exercises

 

  • Regular assessments, vulnerability management, and threat-led penetration testing (TLPT) for significant entities.
  • Tabletop and live exercises to verify recoverability and communication flows.

 

Third-party oversight

 

  • Contractual clauses (audit/inspection rights, data location, exit/termination, resilience metrics).
  • Concentration risk assessments; extra scrutiny for critical providers under ESA oversight.

 

4) What this means for CoinW users

 

Stronger service continuity

 

Expect improved uptime targets, redundancy, and faster recovery from potential outages. You should see clearer status pages and restoration timelines when incidents occur.

 

Clearer notifications

 

For significant ICT incidents, CoinW must coordinate regulatory reporting and user-facing updates, improving transparency around impact and remediation.

 

More robust account security

 

Reinforced controls like MFA, session protections, and fraud/risk monitoring help prevent account compromise and service disruption.

 

Safer vendor ecosystem

 

Cloud and other ICT providers are audited more tightly, with contractual safeguards to ensure resilience and portability of services/data.

 

5) How DORA fits with MiCA, GDPR & NIS2

 

  • MiCA governs market conduct and the authorisation/supervision of crypto activities. DORA governs ICT risk and operational resilience—including for CASPs.
  • GDPR continues to apply for personal data processing. DORA complements GDPR by adding operational resilience obligations (e.g., continuity, testing, incident handling).
  • NIS2 is a broader cybersecurity directive. For financial-sector ICT resilience topics, DORA acts as lex specialis.

 

6) FAQ

 

Does DORA apply to CoinW outside the EU?

DORA applies to EU-authorised entities and activities in the EU. If CoinW serves EU users or operates within the EU, DORA obligations apply.

 

Will there be service interruptions due to DORA testing?

Some resilience testing may require maintenance windows. Expect advance notice and clear timelines to minimise disruption.

 

How are third-party providers controlled under DORA?

Contracts must include audit rights, resilience SLAs, data portability, and exit strategies. Critical ICT providers are under EU-level oversight.

 

Is user data protection part of DORA?

DORA focuses on ICT resilience. Personal data remains under GDPR’s scope.

 

7) Official sources & reputable primers

 

 

Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. CoinW’s controls and communications may evolve as EU supervisory guidance and technical standards are updated.