Coinbase may stop trading USDT in the US if new rules for regulating stablecoins are introduced

Earlier, the exchange has already disabled the ability to trade the asset for European users

22.01.2025 - 08:50

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What’s new? Brian Armstrong, the CEO of the leading US centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Coinbase, said in an interview with WSJ that he is ready to delist the USDT stablecoin if the asset does not meet the requirements of US regulators. The entrepreneur expects future regulations to require stablecoin issuers to place 100% of their reserves in US Treasuries and undergo regular financial audits.

Material by WSJ

What else is known? Tether’s USDT pegged to the US dollar is the largest stablecoin and ranks fourth in the overall ranking of cryptocurrencies by market capitalization after bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP with $138,54 billion.

Coinbase had previously delisted USDT for users in Europe, as the asset does not meet the requirements of the EU-wide Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation.

Tether’s General Counsel quits amid MiCA law coming into force

The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets law introduces new requirements for issuers of stablecoins

Coinbase is also promoting another stablecoin, USDC, which it developed with fintech company Circle, as part of a strategic partnership. USDC is the main competitor of USDT, with the asset’s capitalization exceeding $51 billion.

Also, late last year, Coinbase delisted the wBTC-wrapped bitcoin from custodians BitGo and BiT Global, which are linked to TRON (TRX) blockchain founder Justin Sun. This comes shortly after Coinbase announced the launch of its own wrapped bitcoin cbBTC on its Layer 2 (L2) Base network based on the Ethereum blockchain. In response, BiT Global sued the exchange.

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