The EU Encryption Act MiCA Takes Effect! OKX Removes USDT Trading Pairs in European Region, Will Circle Take the Lead?
According to the letter sent to users by OKX, all trading pairs related to USDT have been delisted recently, and the current USDT can only be used to support spot trading pairs of EUR and USDC. It is widely believed that this move is related to the upcoming EU crypto law (MiCA).
Table of Contents:
Toggle
OKX delists USDT trading pairs in Europe
MiCA, the EU crypto law, is about to take effect
Is Circle leading Tether?
User MartyParty revealed in a tweet yesterday that OKX, the cryptocurrency exchange, has stopped supporting the majority of trading pairs of Tether’s USDT issued for the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA).
As shown in the picture, OKX stated in a letter sent to local users:
Advertisement – Continue scrolling for more content
Please note that due to regulatory requirements, USDT trading pairs in your current location are no longer available for trading. In the future, the only available currency trading pairs for USDT in the spot market will be USDT/EUR and USDT/USDC.
It also added, “USDT can still be deposited and withdrawn, and can be bought or sold in over-the-counter (OTC) trading.”
OKX also mentioned in the letter that this move will only affect a small number of users, and in the future, the focus will be on expanding the liquidity of the euro against cryptocurrencies:
At the same time, we will also launch more than 30 new euro spot trading pairs.
As of now, OKX and Tether have not responded to this.
Speculations from the outside suggest that the regulatory reasons mentioned by OKX may be related to the stablecoin regulations in the Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework. The regulations state that only electronic money institutions (EMIs) and credit institutions are allowed to issue stablecoins.
It is reported that this law will take effect before the end of this year, and the stablecoin regulatory rules are expected to be implemented by June.
(
EU crypto law MiCA is about to take effect, Binance warns of possible massive delisting of stablecoins
)
As the issuer of the stablecoin with a market value of over $100 billion, Tether’s reserve transparency and regulatory compliance have always been under discussion and scrutiny.
On the other hand, the United States is also about to introduce specific stablecoin legislation to provide consistent regulatory standards for stablecoin issuers including Tether and Circle, such as KYC and anti-money laundering.
In December last year, Circle, the issuer of the stablecoin that ranks second in market size after USDT, obtained conditional registration as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) provided by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) and subsequently applied for an EMI license.
(
Circle has obtained conditional registration as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) in France, strengthening compliance development in Europe
)
As far as the regulation of the European stablecoin market is concerned, the euro stablecoin EURC issued by Circle is indeed in a leading position.
However, the euro stablecoin market is still in its early stages, and other competitors include EURT issued by Tether, as well as EURCV (EUR CoinVertible) launched by the three major French banks, Societe Generale.
Circle (USDC)
MiCA
OKX
Tether (USDT)
Euro stablecoin
Europe
Stablecoin
Further reading:
Circle partners with Brazilian digital bank Nubank to increase adoption of $USDC in Latin America
Circle ceases services to individual accounts: Enterprise and institution Circle Mint can still be used
