Coinbase to Remove USDT, PYUSD, and DAI from Trading Assets in Europe
Date: 2024-12-13 Author: Henry Casey Categories: BUSINESS
The crypto exchange will stop trading stablecoins such as USDT, PAX, PYUSD, GUSD, GYEN, and DAI, as they do not comply with the requirements of MiCA. This law is aimed at unifying the rules for regulating the cryptocurrency market in EU countries. However, stablecoins from issuer Circle, such as USDC and EURC, will remain available to users. Coinbase is actively involved in the development of USDC and continues to use this coin in its activities.
The Algorand Foundation, which supports the Algorand blockchain with its native token ALGO, assured that USDC on the Algorand platform will remain available to European users. The organization also highlighted the role of Quantoz, which issues the EURD stablecoin based on Algorand and has an electronic money license in Europe.
The introduction of MiCA has become a serious test for participants in the crypto industry. The head of Tether, which issues USDT and EURT, previously noted that the new requirements could complicate the activities of stablecoin issuers, as well as increase the risks of using them even with a license.
MiCA sets mandatory requirements for the registration of cryptocurrency companies in at least one EU country, which makes it possible to provide services across the entire bloc. This not only simplifies access to the market, but also increases compliance requirements.
Coinbase announced its intention to remove stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA back in October. Other companies are also taking similar steps. For example, Bitstamp stopped trading EURT in the EU on June 30, and the Uphold platform excluded USDT, DAI, and a number of other stablecoins from its trading platform on July 1.
USDT remains the largest stablecoin by market capitalization today, behind only Bitcoin and Ethereum. Its market capitalization is $139.8 billion, making it a key asset in the market. However, given the changes to MiCA, industry participants will be forced to rethink their strategy to comply with the new rules.
