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The European ESMA regulator has urged crypto asset service providers to take measures regarding non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins by Jan. 31.
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The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is pushing firms to restrict stablecoins that don’t comply with the European Union’s new Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
ESMA — the EU’s financial markets regulator and one of the key supervisors of MiCA compliance — issued a statement related to asset-referenced tokens (ARTs), or stablecoins, on Jan. 17.
The authority urged crypto asset service providers (CASPs) to take urgent measures regarding non-MiCA-compliant stablecoins.
While pushing for the measures, the ESMA did not specify which non-compliant issuers or stablecoins should be restricted.
EU state regulators must ensure compliance by the end of Q1 2025
In its statement, the ESMA highlighted the role of EU state authorities — referred to as national competent authorities (NCAs) — in steering CASPs through the process of aligning their services with recent guidance from the European Commission.
The guidance clarifies that MiCA prohibits issuers from offering stablecoins that are not authorized issuers complying with MiCA.
“Other persons than the issuer may offer to the public or seek admission to trading of an ART or EMT [electronic money token],” the guidance notes, adding that such offerings are subject to certain conditions.
One such condition is that the issuer should be authorized in the EU, while another is that the person must obtain written consent from the issuer.
According to the ESMA, NCAs should ensure CASP compliance regarding non-compliant stablecoins “as soon as possible” and no later than the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Q1 2025 deadline refers to “sell-only” basis
While giving CASPs until the end of Q1 2025 to ensure compliance, the ESMA encouraged more urgent actions.
“The restrictions on the existing services are expected to be completed by the end of January 2025,” the regulator wrote, adding:
“To allow EU investors to liquidate or convert their position in non-MiCA compliant ARTs and EMTs, concerned CASPs may, however, maintain crypto-asset services for these products on a “sell only” basis for a longer period (until the end of Q1 2025).”
USDT issuer Tether doesn’t have a MiCA license
The latest communication from the ESMA suggests that Tether’s USDt (USDT) — the largest stablecoin by market capitalization — is subject to restrictions in the EU, according to a member of the MiCA Crypto Alliance.
“By ESMA’s definition, USDT is a non-compliant asset,” Juan Ignacio Ibañez, a member of the Technical Committee of the MiCA Crypto Alliance, told Cointelegraph.
“Tether does not have a license. There was no debate around this,” Ibañez said, concluding that Tether is not an authorized issuer under MiCA.
In a LinkedIn post from Jan. 18, he also suggested that CASPs will have to delist USDT by Jan. 31, except for “sell-only” operations.
“No trace of USDT should remain, not even in ‘sell-only’ mode,” by March 31, he added.
Some industry executives, such as Gemini’s head of Europe, have recently highlighted persisting confusion over stablecoin regulations under MiCA.
Cointelegraph reached out to the ESMA and Tether for comment regarding potential delistings but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
Magazine: Stablecoin for cyber-scammers launches, Sony L2 drama: Asia Express
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
