Last week the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) issued a statement calling for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) or crypto exchanges to de-list non-compliant stablecoins (e-money tokens) in an orderly manner, in order to comply with MiCA regulations. This follows considerable discussion in the crypto community about whether EU crypto exchanges must de-list the Tether stablecoin, given Tether has no plans to become MiCAR compliant. Part of the discussion was around the fact that Tether isn’t Euro based and was already listed before MiCAR came into force.
The net effect is that ESMA wants crypto exchanges to stop enabling clients to buy or acquire unauthorized stablecoins such as Tether by the end of January, although it didn’t mention any stablecoin names. Some clients may still hold Tether, and the exchanges have until the end of March to support clients in converting to compliant stablecoins.
In a recent Circle video, Peter Kerstens, the advisor to the European Commission involved in drafting the legislation, said it’s quite simple, “If a crypto-asset is unauthorized, you cannot list it”. He noted that the currency doesn’t matter and seemed dumbfounded about the amount of money spent on reams of legal advice on this topic.
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