USDC

Coinbase users in Europe shared frustrations over the region’s crypto regulations after the exchange said it is ending its yield offering on the dollar-pegged stablecoin USD Coin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/usdc-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/usdc-price-index">USDC</a>) for some users.
In a Nov. 28 email that multiple recipients <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/MarinaMarkezic/status/1862161507947286886" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">posted</a> on X, Coinbase said due to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/articles/markets-in-crypto-assets-regulation-mica" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">MiCA</a>) laws for stablecoins, it “will be sunsetting the USDC rewards program” on Dec. 1.
The change will affect customers in the European Economic Area (EEA), a 30-nation bloc that includes all 27 EU member states along with Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. The email said those eligible will still accrue rewards for the next two days until Nov. 30.
“Very grateful to the EU for protecting me against earning a yield on my USDC holdings on Coinbase,” Paul Berg, the co-founder and CEO of crypto infrastructure provider Sablier, wrote in a sarcastic Nov. 28 X <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/PaulRBerg/status/1862218494672023855" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">post</a>.
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 <img alt="Coinbase, Europe, European Union, Stablecoin, USD Coin, MiCA" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-11/01937674-6c46-7da1-b965-8513a2b2d627" title="">
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 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/PaulRBerg/status/1862218494672023855" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/PaulRBerg/status/1862218494672023855">Paul Berg</a>&nbsp;
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“I feel protected,” Trading Strategy co-founder Mikko Ohtamaa <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/moo9000/status/1862162800115601506" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a> on X in a mocking response to the email.
Crypto firms including Coinbase and USD Coin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/usdc-price-index" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">USDC</a>) issuer Circle, which are staying in the EU, must fully comply with the MiCA laws by Dec. 30.
The laws, which entered into force in June 2023, saw <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/europe-mica-framework-global-stablecoin-regulation" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">a wide-ranging</a> and strict set of rules for crypto firms and stablecoin issuers that included a prohibition on offering interest on stablecoins, or so-called “e-money tokens.”
“It’s funny how often regulations prevent companies from doing things that are unarguably pro-consumer,” Ripple Labs technology chief David Schwartz <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/JoelKatz/status/1862329861735686159" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">wrote</a> in response to Berg’s post.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/eba-guidelines-crypto-restrictive-measures" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">EU regulator sets restrictive measure guidelines for crypto providers</a>&nbsp;
Meanwhile, Tether, issuer of the US dollar stablecoin of the same name, said on Nov. 27 that it’s <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tether-discontinues-euro-eurt-stablecoin" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">dropping support</a> for its euro-pegged token, citing “the evolving regulatory frameworks surrounding stablecoins in the European market.”&nbsp;
Still, a group of former Binance executives <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/schuman-financial-euro-backed-stablecoin-mica" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">decided to enter the market</a> with a euro-pegged stablecoin. Their firm, Schuman Financial, said on Nov. 26 that its EURØP token will be live sometime in the next two weeks.&nbsp;
Cointelegraph has contacted Coinbase for further comment.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/real-risks-ethena-stablecoin-model-not-ones-you-think/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">The real risks to Ethena’s stablecoin model (are not the ones you think)</a>&nbsp;

Europe’s Coinbase users frustrated as MiCA forces sunset of USDC yield

Cointelegraph

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