Circle Tells EU: Only 3 of 30 Top Stablecoins Speak MiCA — Please Fix That 🇪🇺

Circle has urged the European Commission to revise key provisions of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, arguing that MiCA has produced dozens of regulated e-money tokens while leaving the world's largest stablecoins largely outside its perimeter. In its response to a Commission consultation that closed Wednesday, Circle's EU strategy and policy director Patrick Hansen said "only 3 of the top 30 are MiCA-compliant today," identifying USDC, USDG and EURC as the compliant tokens, while a top-25 breakdown in Circle's policy post identified the same three regulated names.

The stablecoin issuer, which issues USDC and EURC, asked the Commission to preserve "multi-issuance," the structure under which an EU-authorized entity co-issues a stablecoin alongside a foreign-regulated affiliate. Restricting that model would push the European market offshore and beyond MiCA's protections, the company warned. The consultation will inform the Commission's broader MiCA review, with revisions anticipated in 2027.

Circle's most detailed asks concerned reserves. MiCA currently requires e-money token issuers to hold at least 30% of reserves in commercial bank deposits, rising to 60% for significant issuers. Circle argued the rules expose issuers to banking-sector credit and counterparty risk, citing its own March 2023 experience when USDC temporarily lost its dollar peg after the company disclosed that $3.3 billion of its reserves were held at Silicon Valley Bank; USDC regained its peg after US authorities protected the bank's depositors. The firm aligned with the European Central Bank in calling for the deposit minimums to be replaced by a more flexible minimum asset liquidity requirement.

Circle also asked the Commission to scrap two reserve concentration limits, a 35% cap on exposure to a single sovereign and a per-counterbank ceiling set at 1.5% of that bank's total assets, saying the rules would force large issuers to spread reserves across dozens of banks. Other respondents to the same consultation pushed additional changes: the Hyperliquid Policy Center urged the Commission to treat crypto perpetual futures under MiFID II, while the Global Blockchain Business Council called for clearer token classification, proportionate stablecoin safeguards and less duplication between MiCA and payment-services rules.