- Crypto.com is delisting Tether's USDT.
- The move is a response to the European Union's MiCA regulations.
Crypto.com, the second biggest global crypto exchange after Binance, told European Union users it plans to delist Tether’s USDT, along with nine other assets, to comply with new EU regulations.
The Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation, or MiCA, came into effect in June. It stipulates that any company in the 27-nation bloc must be registered as an electronic money institution to issue a stablecoin.
Because Tether doesn’t have this licence, its USDT stablecoin isn’t compliant with MiCA, and exchanges must delist the asset.
“In line with MiCA regulatory requirements, we will suspend the purchase of affected assets on the 31st January,” a Crypto.com spokesperson told DL News.
European users holding USDT or other affected assets will have until March 31 to convert them to MiCA-compliant assets, otherwise they will be automatically converted to a compliant stablecoin or asset of corresponding market value, the spokesperson said.
On January 17, The European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA, urged EU-based crypto exchanges to stop providing non-compliant crypto-asset services, like offering USDT for trading, by the end of the month.
New EU rules
Even though notifications of MiCA have been issued for months, the advent of the new regime is poised to disrupt crypto business in the bloc.
In April, legal analysts told DL News the confusion around the enforcement of the MiCA rules could result in several big crypto asset delistings.
Tether’s USDT is by far the biggest stablecoin with $139 billion in circulation worldwide. By comparison, Circle’s USDC, the second-largest stablecoin, has $52 billion.
Over the past year, Crypto.com has grown in popularity. The Singapore-based exchange surpassed Coinbase in October, and registered a record $324 billion in trading volume in December.
Crypto.com isn’t the first exchange to delist Tether due to MiCA. In December, Coinbase’s European version delisted several crypto assets, including USDT, that didn’t comply with EU regulations.
Other assets
Tether’s USDT isn’t the only asset impacted by the enforcement of the MiCA rules.
Crypto.com said it will at the same time delist nine other assets, including Wrapped Bitcoin, PayPal USD, Sky’s DAI stablecoin, as well as the exchange’s own staked versions of Ether and Solana tokens, among others.
In November, Coinbase also delisted Wrapped Bitcoin.
According to court documents, Coinbase suspected that Justin Sun, the billionaire founder of the Tron blockchain, exerted “potential control” over the asset.
In a lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco on December 13, BiT Global accused Coinbase of abusing its market power and dumping wBTC in favour of listing its own version of wrapped Bitcoin.
Coinbase had denied the allegations and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. Sun didn’t respond to requests for comment at the time.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin traded flat in the past 24 hours at around $102,607.
- Ethereum is down 1.4% over the same period to $3,138.
What we’re reading
- France opens probe into Binance over money laundering suspicions ― DL News
- We asked 5 AIs to call the 2025 peak. It didn’t go so well ― Milk Road
- Czech central bank head wants it to buy billions of euros in bitcoin ― The Financial Times
- Ai16z Is Rebranding as ElizaOS After Request From Venture Firm a16z ― Unchained
- Why Howard Lutnick’s work with Tether will be a hot topic in Senate hearing ― DL News
Tim Craig is DL News’ Edinburgh-based DeFi Correspondent. Reach out with tips at tim@dlnews.com.
Correction, January 30: A previous version of this article incorrectly attributed the December 13 lawsuit to BitGo. It has been changed to BiT Global.
