Circle has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the first global stablecoin issuer to obtain an Electronic Money Institution (EMI) license, essential for offering dollar- and euro-pegged cryptocurrency tokens under European Union (EU) regulatory standards, specifically under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regime.
The license puts Circle, whose stablecoin USDC is second only to Tether’s USDT in terms of adoption, in a prime position to expand its market share among the 27-nation bloc’s 450 million residents. Stablecoins like USDC play a key role in the digital asset ecosystem, not only facilitating trading on exchanges but also increasingly being used in transactions and remittances. Circle’s USDC, with a market cap of $32 billion, remains the second-largest stablecoin, behind only Tether, which leads with $110 billion in USDT.
Armed with approval from the French banking authority, Circle Mint France plans to begin localized issuance of its euro-denominated stablecoin EURC and continue issuance of USDC from the same entity. This move comes ahead of the MiCA regulations for stablecoins coming into effect on June 30, a context in which some cryptocurrency exchanges have opted to delist euro-denominated stablecoins, such as Tether’s EURT.
MiCA’s new rules for stablecoins came as a direct response to the rise of big tech in the financial market, particularly exemplified by Meta’s Diem (formerly Libra) project.
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Source: https://portalcripto.com.br/usdc-da-circle-conquista-licenca-emi-sob-regulacao-mica-na-uniao-europeia/
