Outside Source
Tether and Bitfinex General Counsel Stuart Hoegner has retired, leaving Michael Hilliard to take his place as legal chief at the two firms.
News
Stuart Hoegner, General Counsel of Tether and Bitfinex has retired from his role as the legal chief of the two firms just days after the European Unions’ Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework came into effect.
In a Jan. 2 statement shared with Cointelegraph, Tether wrote that Hoegner had retired and would be replaced as General Counsel by Tether’s current legal counsel, Michael Hilliard, who has been working alongside Hoegner for “several years.”
“Michael’s deep understanding of both companies’ operations, coupled with his strategic approach to legal and regulatory challenges, has been critical to advancing both Tether and Bitfinex’s mission,” wrote the firm in the statement.
The change in legal leadership for Tether comes following the implementation of MiCA in Europe, which officially came into effect on Dec. 30.
The MiCA regulations have left stablecoin issuers like Tether in limbo, with the regulations not clearly stating whether or not the firm’s US Dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT) complies with the new crypto framework for the European Union.
Uncertainty around USDT compliance in EU
“No regulators have explicitly stated that USDT isn’t compliant, but this does not mean that it is,” Juan Ignacio Ibañez, a member of the Technical Committee of the MiCA Crypto Alliance, told Cointelegraph in a Dec. 29 report.
Related: Tether, Tron and TRM Labs jointly froze $126M USDT in 2024
In October 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) — a key supervisor of MiCA compliance — declined to tell Cointelegraph whether USDT was seen as a restricted stablecoin under MiCA.
A spokesperson at ESMA then said that the regulator was working with market participants and other stakeholders to address stablecoin-related issues presented in MiCA.
While there has been murky guidance on the matter of Tether’s legal status in Europe, United States crypto exchange Coinbase delisted USDT in mid-December, citing compliance with MiCA.
Despite Coinbase’s move to delist USDT, the stablecoin has continued trading across the EU, with many exchanges still awaiting further clarity from European authorities on USDT’s compliance with MiCA.
Magazine: Influencers shilling memecoin scams face severe legal consequences
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
