Circle’s USDC has become the first stablecoin in the European Union to receive significant e-money token status under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
The classification was made by the European Banking Authority (EBA) after assessing the token against the regulation’s criteria.
Regulatory Upgrade
The EU currently has 45 e-money tokens notified under MiCA. USDC is the first to be classified as “significant.” The new rules will take effect on November 12, 2026. From that date, the EBA will take over direct supervision of the crucial areas, such as capital requirements, asset reserves, liquidity, and recovery and redemption plans. These responsibilities currently fall under France’s banking regulator, the ACPR.
However, the ACPR will retain oversight of other areas. These include governance, major shareholdings, management suitability, outsourcing, as well as conflicts of interest. The EBA and ACPR will work together to manage the transition and coordinate their supervision.
USDC has a presence on both sides of the Atlantic. Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS issues the token in the EU, while Circle Internet Financial, LLC handles issuance in the United States.
The EBA has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State Department of Financial Services. The agreement aims to improve cooperation and information sharing on cross-border stablecoin activities.
Expansion Across Banks and Payments
USDC faced fresh competition concerns earlier this year following the unveiling of Open USD (OUSD), a stablecoin project that was developed with founding partners including Visa, Mastercard, Stripe, Coinbase, and Shopify, and backed by a consortium of over 140 companies. The announcement put the spotlight on the battle for stablecoin adoption, but USDC continues to find new opportunities to expand its reach.
For instance, BNY Mellon expanded its partnership with Circle by bringing USDC to its Digital Asset Custody platform for institutional clients. The bank allowed its clients to hold and transfer USDC, as well as mint tokens by converting US dollars and redeem them back into dollars. BNY has already been serving as the primary custodian of USDC reserves.
Binance also doubled down on USDC with a fresh five-year agreement with Circle, alongside a $100 million investment in the stablecoin issuer. The deal could help the token reach more users through Binance, which has previously agreed to hold USDC in its corporate treasury and make it available to its 240 million users.
Samsung announced plans to bring USDC transfers to Samsung Wallet for eligible Galaxy users in the US, the rollout, for which, is expected in the last week of October 2026. The service will let users send the stablecoin to compatible crypto wallets and transfer funds to eligible bank accounts in more than 60 countries.
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