Crypto. com will delist USDT for users in the EU on January 31

What’s new? Leading centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Crypto. com will delist USDT, the largest $139,4 billion-capitalized stablecoin from Tether, for EU customers on January 31. According to BSC News, the move is in response to the full entry into force of the EU-wide Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which sets stricter compliance rules for stablecoins and other digital assets.

Source: X.com

What else is known? MiCA rules require issuers of stablecoins to hold a portion of their reserves in cash in banks and obtain an Electronic Money Institutions (EMI) license from at least one EU member state.

Crypto.com becomes the second major crypto exchange to remove USDT in the EU. Coinbase, the largest US CEX, has already removed USDT from its European platform at the end of 2024, also citing MiCA compliance.

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Since two major exchanges in Europe have abandoned USDT, liquidity and trading volumes of the asset in the region may decrease, which could potentially lead to traders switching to alternative stablecoins, the publication notes. For example, the main USDT competitor, USDC from fintech company Circle, developed with Coinbase, currently meets MiCA requirements.

As for Crypto.com, it showed the best trading volume growth rate among the leading CEXs in 2024. It grew by 960% to reach $3 trillion, of which $1,3 trillion came from the spot market and $1,7 trillion from the derivatives market.

In addition to USDT, Crypto.com will also remove for European users the Dai (DAI), Pax Gold (PAXG), and Pax Dollar (USDP) stablecoins, as well as BiT Global’s wBTC wrapped bitcoin. In addition, three derivative tokens managed by the exchange itself will be removed.

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Users have until March 31, 2025, to convert or withdraw these assets. Later, any remaining non-compliant tokens will be automatically converted to a MiCA-compliant stablecoin or an asset of equivalent market value.

After MiCA came into effect, Tether’s general counsel Stuart Hoegner left the company. However, the company itself has no intention of leaving the European market and is looking to comply with the new rules. Last December, Tether invested in the European stablecoin issuer StablR.