Kraken ‘actively reviewing’ USDT suspension in EU under MiCA regulation

Cryptocurrency
exchange
Kraken
is
considering
delisting
the
USDT
stablecoin
in
the
EU.

According
to

a
Bloomberg
report,
the
exchange
is
“actively
reviewing”
delisting
plans.
The
possible
abandonment
of
USDT
is
due
to
the
new
regime
for
digital
assets,
which
will
come
into
force
in
the
EU
in
July.

Tether’s
stablecoin
will
likely
be
affected
by
new
EU
rules,
specifically
the
Markets
in
Crypto
Assets
(MiCA)
regulations.
The
guidelines,
which
have
yet
to
be
finalized
by
the
European
Banking
Authority,
will
impose
restrictions
on
stablecoins
offered
to
European
investors.

“We’re
absolutely
planning
for
all
eventualities,
including
situations
where
it’s
just
not
tenable
to
list
specific
tokens
such
as
USDT.”

Marcus
Hughes,
Kraken’s
global
head
of
regulatory
strategy

Tether’s
response

Tether
officials
expect
exchanges
to
focus
on
euro
liquidity
for
EU
clients
while
keeping
USDT
as
a
temporary
solution.
However,
Tether
CEO
Paolo
Ardoino
previously
indicated
that
Tether
has
no
plans
to
be
regulated
by
MiCA
rules
in
the
medium
term.

In
March,
another
major
cryptocurrency
exchange,

OKX,

suspended
USDT
trading
for
users
in
the
European
Union.
This
decisions
was
likely
influenced
by
the
upcoming
regulation
of
cryptocurrencies
under
MiCa.

Legal
framework
and
compliance

MiCA
will
allow
crypto
exchanges
and
companies
providing
cryptocurrency
custody
services
to
offer
their
products
legally
in
the
EU.
The
law
also
establishes
rules
for
the
operation
of
stablecoin
issuers.

After
the
MiCA
law
comes
into
force,
crypto
companies
must
obtain
registration
in
one
of
the
bloc’s
member
states,
allowing
them
to
operate
throughout
the
entire
EU.
MiCA’s

stablecoin
provisions
will
come
into
effect
as
early
as
June
2024.