Stablecoin issuer Circle has become the first company to obtain authorization under the EU's MiCA legal framework to sell its USDC stablecoin services across Europe.

The introduction of the MiCA policy aims to regulate and supervise the operations of digital asset businesses, and Circle’s compliance marks its leading position in the field.

Circle gets approval to sell USDC stablecoin in Europe

Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire announced that Circle Mint France has been granted an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license by the French regulator and will be responsible for managing the issuance of EURC and USDC to serve European users.

As a channel for cryptocurrency transactions, stablecoins provide a way to avoid the volatility risks of digital assets such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL). Assets such as Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC are pegged to sovereign currencies such as the US dollar or the euro to maintain a stable value. $USDC

With Circle's MiCA compliance, the EU's regulatory uncertainty on stablecoins has been eliminated. MiCA provides clear rules for the use of stablecoins. For example, under the framework, Circle's daily issuance limit is set at $215 million in transaction value, which provides a legal basis for the issuance and trading of stablecoins in Europe.

Is Circle ready to challenge Tether's dominance in Europe?

Circle's EMI license and MiCA compliance provide it with a strategic advantage in the European market, which may lead changes and even challenge Tether, the current largest stablecoin issuer. Recently, with platforms such as Bitstamp delisting Tether's euro stablecoin EURT, and Uphold stopping support for USDT and several other dollar-pegged stablecoins, the market has raised questions about Tether's prospects in Europe.

In this context, Circle, as the first company to obtain a MiCA stablecoin license, has the opportunity to challenge the dominance of Tether and USDT in multiple jurisdictions. Circle plans to move its legal base from Ireland to the United States before its initial public offering (IPO) to cope with the upcoming US stablecoin regulations, which may further consolidate its position as a global stablecoin giant.

However, USDC still has a long way to go to catch up with Tether in terms of market capitalization. Currently, USDT ranks first with a market capitalization of $113 billion, while USDC's market capitalization is $32 billion, far below its peak of about $55 billion in June 2022. This shows that despite Circle's progress in compliance and market strategy, it still needs to work hard to catch up in terms of market capitalization. #Circle #MiCA #稳定币监管

Conclusion:

With Circle’s breakthrough under the EU’s MiCA legal framework, the company has not only consolidated its position as a compliance pioneer in the digital asset space, but also paved the way for possible market changes and challenges to the existing market giant Tether.

Despite the gap in market capitalization with Tether, Circle's EMI license and MiCA compliance undoubtedly add important weight to its expansion in the global stablecoin market. In the continuous evolution of the cryptocurrency market, Circle's future development and its competition with Tether will undoubtedly become the focus of the industry.

Investors and market participants need to pay close attention to Circle's IPO process and the introduction of stablecoin regulations in the United States, both of which may have a profound impact on the global stablecoin market landscape. With the continuous advancement of compliance and technological innovation, we look forward to witnessing a more diversified and vibrant stablecoin market.