Circle’s USDC Becomes First Stablecoin Under Direct EU Supervision

TLDR

• The European Banking Authority has classified Circle’s USDC as a “significant” e-money token under MiCA, the first of 45 notified tokens to get the label.
• Joint oversight by the EBA and France’s ACPR begins November 12, 2026.
• The EBA will supervise reserves, liquidity, own funds, and recovery and redemption plans. The ACPR keeps governance, ownership and conflicts of interest.
• The EBA signed an information sharing agreement with New York regulators on cross-border stablecoin supervision.
• Circle recently asked EU policymakers to change MiCA’s bank deposit rules for reserve assets.

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified Circle’s USDC as a significant e-money token under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The EBA announced the decision on October 14.

Circle’s USDC Becomes EU’s First “Significant” E-Money Token Under MiCA

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has classified Circle’s USDC as the EU’s first “significant” e-money token (EMT) under MiCA, making it the first of 45 notified EMTs to receive the designation. USDC is… pic.twitter.com/BV3TLKyBiY

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 15, 2026

USDC is the first of the 45 e-money tokens currently notified under the framework to receive the label. It is the second-largest stablecoin, with a market value of about $73 billion. Tether’s USDT is first at $184 billion.

What changes on November 12

Starting November 12, 2026, the EBA will take direct responsibility for several financial safeguards tied to USDC. These include own-funds requirements, reserve assets, liquidity rules, and recovery and redemption plans.

Own funds are the financial resources an issuer must keep to meet its obligations. Reserve assets are the holdings that back the token’s value and cover redemption requests.

France’s financial regulator, the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR), will keep other duties. These cover corporate governance, ownership interests, senior management checks, outsourcing and conflicts of interest.

The EBA said the two regulators will work together during the handover. Article 117 of MiCA sets out this split for significant tokens.

How USDC qualified

MiCA requires the EBA to label a token as significant when it meets at least three criteria. These include the number of holders, transaction activity and token value. The EBA did not say which criteria USDC met.

Circle has issued USDC in Europe through its French entity since 2024. It received an electronic money institution license from the ACPR in July 2024. Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS issues the token in the EU, and Circle Internet Financial, LLC does so in the United States.

Industry leaders have commented on the move. Stable Mint CEO James Bennett told Cointelegraph that Europe could not “wish away” dollar stablecoins, but regulators could set the rules for issuers. AllUnity CEO Alexander Höptner said offering only a euro stablecoin is not enough for European companies making global payments.

Circle’s push on MiCA rules

In early October, Circle urged EU policymakers to rethink the reserve rules for stablecoin issuers. It argued that required commercial bank deposits could expose issuers to risks from their banking partners.

The company pointed to the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. About $3.3 billion of USDC reserves were temporarily out of reach at that time. Circle also said only three of the 30 largest stablecoins met MiCA rules at the start of October.

The EBA’s classification does not change any MiCA requirements. It applies the current rules to USDC.

The EBA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State Department of Financial Services. It covers cooperation and information sharing on cross-border stablecoin activity. On October 12, the Financial Stability Board published a report on cross-border risks from global stablecoins.

The EBA will begin its responsibilities for USDC’s reserves, liquidity, own funds, and recovery and redemption plans on November 12.