The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has announced that it will impose restrictions on “unregulated” stablecoins in the European Union market.
In its latest statement, the exchange mentioned that the regulations regarding stablecoins under the EU’s Market in Crypto-assets (MiCA) legislation will come into effect at the end of June. With stablecoins being subject to regulation in Europe, only stablecoins issued by “regulated companies” will be open to the public. As a result, some existing stablecoins may not meet this classification and will face certain restrictions.
However, Binance did not explicitly specify which stablecoins fall under the “unregulated” category in its statement. It is anticipated that the largest stablecoin, USDT, will likely be classified as “unregulated”. In fact, as early as March this year, OKX announced the delisting of USDT trading pairs in the European market to comply with MiCA regulatory requirements.
Nevertheless, Binance’s actions are not expected to have a significant impact on the market in the short term. The exchange emphasized in its statement that it will adopt a “phased” strategy to adapt to the changes in European stablecoin regulation, in order to avoid market confusion. For example, spot trading pairs for “unregulated stablecoins” will still remain open, and custody and wallet services for stablecoins will also be maintained (users will still be able to deposit or withdraw stablecoins from Binance wallets).
