Coinbase (COIN.O), the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Friday that it will delist certain stablecoins from its European Economic Area (EEA) offerings by the end of 2024. The decision comes as the European Union prepares to implement its comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory framework, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, by December.
MiCA, introduced in early 2023 and set to be fully enforced by the end of the year, establishes strict standards for transparency, liquidity, and consumer protection for stablecoins—crypto tokens whose value is pegged to stable assets like the U.S. dollar or the euro to protect against volatility. Issuers of stablecoins will be required to hold an e-money license from an EU member state to comply with the new regulations.
In response to these changes, Coinbase is taking proactive measures to ensure compliance. “Given our commitment to compliance, we intend to restrict the provision of services to EEA users in connection with stablecoins that do not meet the MiCA requirements by December 30, 2024,” the company said in a statement to FinanceFeeds. The exchange will offer impacted EEA users the opportunity to switch their holdings to compliant stablecoins, such as Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) and Euro Coin (EURC), which are pegged to the U.S. dollar and euro, respectively.
Circle, the fintech firm behind USDC and EURC, has already secured an Electronic Money Institution license in the EU, making it the second-largest stablecoin issuer in the region. However, Tether, the largest stablecoin issuer, has yet to obtain the necessary license, putting its token, USDT, at risk of being delisted from Coinbase’s European platform if compliance is not achieved by the MiCA deadline.
The upcoming regulations are expected to significantly impact the cryptocurrency landscape in Europe. Other exchanges, including OKX, Bitstamp, and Uphold, have also begun taking steps to remove or limit access to non-compliant stablecoins. Binance, another major player in the crypto exchange space, has indicated that it may impose restrictions on unregulated stablecoins across its European platforms.
MiCA marks a pivotal moment for the EU, as it becomes the first major jurisdiction to establish comprehensive cryptocurrency regulations. While the new framework will allow exchanges and wallet providers to operate across the EU with a single license, the implications for stablecoins and decentralized projects remain uncertain as the regulatory landscape evolves.
