Coinbase announced on Friday that it plans to delist stablecoins that are not compliant with the European Union’s MiCA law starting at the end of this year. Coinbase has proposed to stop supporting stablecoins that do not follow the Market in Crypto Assets (MiCA) rules set by the EU.
According to Bloomberg, this happened after the EU strengthened its regulatory framework for digital asset markets.
“As of December 31, guidance for virtual currency exchanges and other businesses operating in the region will come into effect,” the report said. Coinbase has revealed that users in the European Economic Area (EEA) will be able to convert their assets to stablecoins with regulatory approval, including Circle’s USDC, in the coming months.
The company reiterated that it will comply with local regulations and the delisting process will begin on December 30th. Coinbase’s actions may limit stablecoin issuer Tether. Tether’s USDT token is said to be not yet compliant with MiCA law. “In light of our compliance efforts, we plan to restrict the provision of services to EEA users related to stablecoins that do not meet MiCA requirements by December 30, 2024,” the company said.
Several other exchanges, including Bitstamp, Uphold, OKX, and Binance, have stopped supporting stablecoins such as USDT to help European users remain compliant. On June 30, the European Commission expanded MiCA’s jurisdiction to include stablecoin issuers, provided they have an e-money license from at least one EU member state. The aim is to improve oversight and ensure compliance among publicly traded stablecoin providers in the region.
