MiCA Regulations Shake Up Crypto Market, Will USDT Face More Delistings?

• MiCA regulations start December 30 reshaping the market
• Tether invests in StablR to navigate MiCA compliance
• Coinbase delists USDT due to MiCA alleged non-compliance

The new European regulatory framework, which is set to start in a matter of days, could completely reshape the current state of the market. On December 30, the MiCA, or “Market in Crypto-Assets”, will reinforce its regulatory push on the region.

MiCA’s key points taking effect in just three days will demand further information and regulatory requirements for crypto asset issuers and service providers, adding new rules to protect consumers and the market’s integrity, and imposing new regulatory requirements for stablecoins. 

The latter has become the biggest talking point about these regulatory updates, as the largest stablecoin issuer by market capitalization—Tether—is currently deemed non-compliant by some according to MiCA’s rulesets. 

Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has opted to delist USDT from its platform this December after committing to the new MiCA ruleset. Although the new ruleset is going into full effect on December 30, MiCA’s timeline will include an additional 18-month transition period allowing Tether and other crypto firms to comply. 

While there have been no reports about other exchanges delisting USDT after that date, Juan Ignacio Ibañez, a member of the Technical Committee of the MiCA Crypto Alliance has told Cointelegraph that more delistings are expected.

In response, Tether is investing in European stablecoin issuer StablR. This development could facilitate USDT’s acceptance into the MiCA framework as StablR holds an e-money license from Malta, making it MiCA-compliant.

However, with such a short timeframe until December 30, it remains to be seen whether we’ll see new USDT delistings by major cryptocurrency exchanges by 2025.

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