Coinbase to delist USDT in Europe due to MiCA
Tether is going to have a hard time in Europe
European cryptocurrency exchanges are preparing to remove stablecoins that fail to comply with local regulations as the enforcement deadline for the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) approaches.
According to Cointelegraph, Coinbase Europe, Coinbase Germany, and Coinbase Custody International plan to delist Tether (USDT) and five other stablecoins on December 13.
“We will have to restrict services for the following assets: USDT, PAX, PYUSD, GUSD, GYEN, and DAI,” Coinbase stated, noting that these coins fall under MiCA restrictions.
However, Coinbase will continue to support USD Coin and EURC, a euro-pegged stablecoin jointly managed by Coinbase and the U.S. company Circle.
Stablecoins may return
The first phase of MiCA for stablecoins was implemented on June 30, but the full set of regulations for crypto service providers will take effect on December 30.
In October, Coinbase announced its plans to delist stablecoins restricted by MiCA, encouraging users to convert their holdings to alternatives like USDC.
As the third-largest global exchange by trading volume, Coinbase plays a significant role in USDT trading. According to CoinGecko, USDT is the second most traded asset on the platform after Bitcoin, accounting for over 12% of all trades, with daily volumes exceeding $1 billion.
A Coinbase representative stated: “We regularly review the assets available on our platform to ensure regulatory compliance. We plan to assess the possibility of re-enabling support for stablecoins that achieve MiCA compliance in the future.”
In November, Tether issued 19 billion new tokens, injecting significant liquidity into the cryptocurrency market.
