The announcement follows the exchange’s earlier decision to delist non-compliant stablecoins in the European Economic Area (EEA). The USDC Rewards programme has been available across the 30 EEA countries, including the 27 member states of the European Union. Coinbase stated that the decision to end the program aligns with its efforts to adhere to MiCA’s regulatory framework, which will fully take effect on 30 December 2024.
MiCA’s regulatory requirements for stablecoins began rolling out in June 2024, prompting crypto companies to pursue compliance measures such as obtaining EU registrations or licences. Some companies, however, have opted to delist certain stablecoins to avoid non-compliance. This regulatory shift has also led to initiatives focused on launching new, MiCA-compliant fiat-backed digital currencies.
Tether, the issuer of USDT, which is the largest stablecoin by market capitalisation at the time of writing, recently announced it will end support for Tether Euro (EURT), a Euro-pegged stablecoin. Tether cited the absence of a risk-averse framework as the primary reason for this move. Despite discontinuing EURT, Tether is investing in Quantoz Payments, a firm developing MiCA-compliant stablecoins such as EURQ and USDQ.
These developments highlight how stablecoin issuers and exchanges are adjusting to the evolving regulatory landscape in Europe, aiming to ensure their offerings remain viable under MiCA’s guidelines.
In a separate development, in September 2024, Coinbase announced the acquisition of Utopia Labs, a company specialising in on-chain payment solutions. The Utopia Labs team integrated with Base, Coinbase’s layer 2 scaling network to advance the company’s on-chain payments initiatives, particularly through Coinbase Wallet, according to a blog post by the exchange.
Coinbase described the acquisition as part of a wider strategy to create a cycle of growth in the on-chain ecosystem.
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