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

03.01.2025 - 09:45

3 min

What’s new? Stuart Hoegner, the general counsel of the USDT stablecoin’s issuer Tether and centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Bitfinex, has resigned, and Michael Hilliard will take his place. According to a statement, Hoegner and Hilliard have been jointly managing the legal operations of the two companies for several years.

Material by The Block

What else is known? The changes follow the full entry into force of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation on December 30. Among other things, the document established a stricter regulatory framework for stablecoin issuers in the EU, including reserve and liquidity requirements.

Until now, Hoegner has played a key role in “navigating Tether and Bitfinex through complex regulatory environments,” the two companies said Thursday. According to LinkedIn, Hoegner joined Bitfinex in 2014.

Tether CEO and Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino noted Hoegner’s invaluable contributions to both companies. “As we turn the page, we are confident that Michael’s leadership will continue to strengthen our legal operations and help guide Tether and Bitfinex through the next chapter of growth and innovation,” the senior executive concluded.

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The head of the company, Arthur Azizov, expects wider institutional adoption and the emergence of coins based on local fiat currencies

USDT is the largest stablecoin and the fourth largest cryptocurrency by capitalization after bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP ($137,12 billion). At the same time, the asset does not have the necessary license to circulate in the EU under MiCA, and some exchanges have already delisted it.

If Tether is not licensed under MiCA, USDT will lose the EU market, which will give an advantage to regulated alternatives, most notably its main competitor: Circle’s USDC with a capitalization of $44,45 billion.

Coinbase will delist USDT, PYUSD, and DAI for users in Europe

Stablecoins from issuer Circle will not be affected by the changes

As for Bitfinex, it is one of the leading crypto exchanges. In November, its spot trading volume grew 218% to $13,6 billion. The platform’s traffic grew by 53% to 840 000, with the main traffic coming from Russia (10%), Germany (10%), and the United States (7%).

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