On July 1, Jeremy Allaire, co-founder and CEO of Circle, announced that the company has become the first global stablecoin issuer to receive regulatory approval under the European Union's comprehensive Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulatory framework.

Circle’s USDC and EURC are now compliant with the new regulations, effective immediately, alleviating concerns that investors would need to redeem their stablecoins or transfer their funds to other digital assets to remain compliant.

Allaire also revealed that Circle has selected France as its European headquarters, citing the country's progressive stance on digital asset regulation and the company's strong relationship with the French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR).

The Circle co-founder reflected on the historical significance of the European Union’s regulatory overhaul, which is the first comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets, highlighting the evolution of the asset class since its inception.

“The entire concept of fiat digital currency did not really even exist outside of very early crypto circles. The concept of seeing major global laws that enshrined stablecoins into the financial system was inconceivable.”

In anticipation of the European Union’s regulatory changes, several exchanges announced adjustments to their stablecoin policies and product offerings.

In June, the crypto exchange and custodial platform Uphold informed its European users via email that it would be delisting six stablecoins:

Dai, Tether (USDC), , TrueUSD (TUSD), Gemini dollar (GUSD), Pax dollar (USDP), and Frax Protocol (FRAX).

Bitstamp also delisted Tether’s EURT stablecoin later that month, despite being one of the first exchanges to list the digital fiat token, in preparation for the regulatory changes.

Similarly, Binance adopted a “sell-only” strategy for certain stablecoin products in the European market instead of delisting any stablecoins immediately.

The world’s largest centralized exchange decided to label the fiat equivalents as either compliant or non-compliant and limited certain market features for its European customers.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/circle-first-licensed-stablecoin-issuer-mica

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/01/eu-mica-law-crypto-firm-circle-gets-french-license-for-stablecoin.html