EBA Classifies USDC as First Significant EMT Under MiCA

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has designated Circle‘s USDC as the first electronic money token (EMT) to meet the threshold for significance under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Circle’s French subsidiary, which previously answered only to the French regulator ACPR, now faces dual supervision, with the EBA assuming direct responsibility for own funds, reserve assets, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption planning.

The practical consequence is an immediate tightening of reserve and capital rules. Significant EMTs must hold 60% of reserves at commercial banks rather than the 30% floor that applies to standard issuers, and minimum capital rises from 2% to 3% of reserves. For a dollar-denominated token like USDC, sourcing banks willing to absorb large USD deposits in the European market is a non-trivial operational constraint, and the article identifies this as a meaningful cost burden for Circle.

The 60% bank-deposit floor may, however, prove short-lived. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) has expressed concern that a stablecoin run could trigger material outflows from the banking system, a risk the Silicon Valley Bank episode illustrated from the opposite direction when USDC itself temporarily lost its peg. In the ongoing MiCA 2 consultation, the ESCB has proposed scrapping the deposit floor entirely in favour of minimum daily and weekly liquidity buckets, with a 40% daily floor for significant stablecoins and 20% for others, drawing on draft EBA liquidity standards. Operators building reserve or custody infrastructure around the current 60% rule should treat that figure as potentially transitional rather than settled.