Tether Rejected This MiCA Rule. Now the ECB Wants It Gone

Europe’s central banks want Brussels to delete a MiCA rule on stablecoin reserves. It forces large issuers to keep 60% of that money in commercial banks. Tether refused an EU license over the same clause.

The request landed in the European Commission’s review of MiCA, the bloc’s crypto rulebook. A stablecoin is a token designed to hold a fixed value, usually one dollar or one euro.

What the Central Banks Want Changed in the MiCA Rule

The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) filed the comments on Tuesday. The body groups the European Central Bank (ECB) with the national central banks of all 27 EU member states.

Their objection concerns bank funding. Money that swings with token creation and redemption is not stable deposit money, the filing said. Heavy redemptions could drain it from lenders overnight.

Instead, they want a minimum share of reserves held in assets that mature within one to five working days. Reserves are the cash and bonds an issuer holds to back every token it has sold.

The same filing said regulators face “material challenges” enforcing the rules, because non-compliant crypto firms still reach EU customers. The ECB has separately warned that euro stablecoin expansion could squeeze bank lending.

Why Tether Refused the Same MiCA Rule

The deposit floors are tiered. Ordinary issuers must keep 30% of funds in bank deposits under MiCA. Issuers the EU labels significant must keep 60%.

Tether, which issues USDT, the largest stablecoin, never sought the license. Chief executive Paolo Ardoino has argued since 2024 that the floor makes tokens less safe. EU deposit insurance stops at 100,000 euros.

“When MiCA becomes safer for consumers and stablecoin issuers, then we might reconsider,” he argued.

The two complaints run in opposite directions:

• Ardoino wants the token protected from banks.
• The central banks want banks protected from the token.

Revolut dropped USDT for Europe this year. BeInCrypto reported in July that Circle was backing a MiCA rule change that could bring Tether back.

The consultation closes on September 30. The 30% and 60% floors remain law until EU lawmakers amend MiCA, and Tether still holds no EU authorization.