The European Commission is preparing to issue guidance that would treat stablecoins minted outside the European Union as interchangeable with identical tokens issued by EU-licensed entities, several media outlets including the Financial Times and Reuters reported
The European Commission is preparing to issue guidance that would treat stablecoins minted outside the European Union as interchangeable with identical tokens issued by EU-licensed entities, several media outlets including the Financial Times and Reuters reported. The move eases a key barrier in the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rulebook and would allow large foreign-denominated tokens such as Circle’s USDC and Tether’s USDT to circulate more freely across the single market.
Current MiCA rules require stablecoin issuers to keep most reserves inside the EU and limit the size of foreign-currency tokens. By declaring ‘same-brand’ coins fungible irrespective of where they are created, Brussels would effectively lift those constraints, responding to industry complaints that Europe risks being sidelined as other jurisdictions advance clearer frameworks.
The decision comes despite repeated warnings from the European Central Bank. President Christine Lagarde has argued that an influx of dollar-backed stablecoins could trigger capital flight and undermine monetary sovereignty during periods of market stress. National supervisors would retain discretion to run individual risk assessments and impose extra safeguards on issuers.
Analysts say political pressure is mounting after the U.S. Senate passed the GENIUS Act, which sets out a federal oversight regime for stablecoins. Moody’s senior analyst Cristiano Ventricelli told Decrypt that Washington’s progress is reverberating globally and has spurred the EU to relax its stance to avoid becoming a “fly-over zone” for digital-asset innovation. The Commission’s guidance is expected to be published in the coming days.
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