The changes will not affect stablecoins from issuer Circle
Leading US centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Coinbase will delist several fiat-pegged stablecoins for European users on December 13. Trading will be stopped for USDT, PAX, PYUSD, GUSD, GYEN, and DAI, as they do not comply with the Markets in Cryptoassets Act (MiCA), which is being gradually implemented in the bloc.
The changes will not affect Circle's stablecoins pegged to the dollar and euro: USDC and EURC. Coinbase was directly involved in the development of USDC, and now actively uses this coin in its operations.
In a letter to European clients, the exchange explained that the changes apply to retail clients of platforms operated by Coinbase Europe Limited and Coinbase Germany GmbH. The company recommended converting all stablecoins subject to delisting to USDC and EURC before the above-mentioned date, or transferring them from the platform to their own non-custodial wallet.
On December 1, Coinbase also discontinued its rewards program for USDC holders in the European Economic Area (EEA), citing MiCA.
In connection with the changes, the Algorand Foundation, an NGO that supports the Algorand blockchain with its native ALGO token, issued a statement. The team emphasized that USDC on Algorand will remain available in the EEA, and also drew attention to Quantoz, which has a license to issue electronic money in Europe and is the issuer of the EURD stablecoin based on Algorand.
Coinbase announced it would stop trading non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins back in early October. MiCA is a comprehensive framework for regulating various aspects of the crypto industry and standardizing the rules across the bloc's member countries.
It also requires crypto firms to register in at least one EU country, which allows them to operate throughout the entire bloc.
Cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp stopped trading EURT in the EU on June 30, and on July 1, the Uphold platform took similar actions against USDT, DAI, FRAX, GUSD, USDP, and TUSD.
The head of Tether, which issues USDT and EURT, said that MiCA could complicate the work of stablecoin issuers, as well as increase the risks of using such assets with a license.
USDT is the largest stablecoin on the crypto market, second only to Bitcoin and Ethereum in terms of capitalization with an indicator of $139.8 billion.