MiCA
The EU's crypto-asset regulation, which puts stablecoin issuers and crypto exchanges under the kind of licensing banks and payment institutions already live with.
The Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, (EU) 2023/1114, was adopted in 2023. Its stablecoin rules have applied since 30 June 2024 and the rest since 30 December 2024. It sorts tokens into e-money tokens, pegged to a single currency, asset-referenced tokens, pegged to a basket, and everything else. Anyone issuing an e-money token must be a credit institution or an e-money institution and hold reserves redeemable at par.
Crypto-asset service providers — exchanges, custodians and the like — need authorisation in one member state and can then passport across the Union. The most visible effect came early: several European trading venues stopped offering USDT because Tether did not seek authorisation. Crypto firms also fall under DORA and the travel rule.