The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has ordered MiCA-authorized crypto-asset service providers to cease all activity involving non-compliant stablecoins by January 8, 2027. Tether’s USDT is the main asset affected, as Tether never applied for e-money token authorization, partly due to a rule requiring 60% of reserves to be held in European bank deposits. Coinbase, Binance, and Revolut have already restricted or removed USDT from their platforms in the European Economic Area, while Circle’s USDC and EURC remain available. Individual USDT holders are not targeted: only services offered by licensed firms are affected, and platforms have a supervised window to wind down their positions. For Tether, the stakes are primarily about losing access to a major regulated market rather than about the company’s survival.
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