Tether 'concerned' by EU's 'problematic' MiCA stablecoin requirements, says CEO

Following Binance's announcement that it would begin restricting access to "unauthorized" stablecoins in Europe by the end of the month, Tether USDT +0.039%

 CEO Paolo Ardoino expressed concern about the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and its impact on stablecoins.

"$Tether has been actively involved in regulatory technical standards consultations over the past months and remains concerned that MiCA contains several problematic requirements," Ardoino told The Block. "These requirements could not only render the job of a stablecoin issuer extremely complex but also make EU-licensed stablecoins extremely vulnerable and riskier to operate. As with any regulatory framework of this scale, further discussions on the technical implementation standards are crucial to providing clarity to the market over certain provisions," he added.

On Monday, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, said that from June 30, it would restrict access to "unauthorized" stablecoins. The company did not mention Tether's USDT stablecoin in its announcement, the world's largest by circulation, but it remains unclear whether MiCA will impact Europeans' access to the stablecoin.

Binance CEO Richard Teng clarified in an X post Monday that "Binance won't delist any unauthorized stablecoins on spot but will limit their availability for [European] users only on certain products," adding "updates on regulated stablecoins will be shared soon."

While Binance said it would begin restricting access to "unauthorized" stablecoins, rival exchanges OKX and Kraken are also being forced to consider MiCA's potential impacts. As of last month, Kraken was "actively reviewing" whether to delist USDT, according to a report. In March, OKX said it was ceasing support for USDT trading pairs in Europe, The Block previously reported. 

Binance appeared to concede on Monday the looming regulation could present challenges#TRB_UPDATE #BlackRock #TetherUSD