Kraken Stands Firm on USDT Despite MiCA Regulation Changes

Exchanges for cryptocurrencies are negotiating the upcoming Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation, which has sparked discussions about stablecoin policies. The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has stated that it will continue to support USDT for its European clients in spite of this.

According to Kraken’s global head of asset growth and management business, Mark Greenberg, the stablecoin “continues to list USDT in Europe” and the company has “no plans to delist” it. Greenberg summarized Kraken’s attempts to comply with impending laws and stressed the importance of USDT to European consumers. MiCA offers serious obstacles for Tether as it sets tight rules, such as capping daily transaction values at less than 200 million euros ($217.6 million).

However, Greenberg reassured that Kraken will adhere to all regulations once they are finalized. He stressed, “the rules are not finalized yet” and affirmed the exchange’s commitment to “continue to do everything we can to offer all relevant stablecoins to our European customers.”

Preparing for MiCA

Kraken’s stance follows comments from Marcus Hughes, Kraken’s global head of regulatory strategy, who mentioned that the company is “actively reviewing” its Tether movements in light of MiCA. Hughes highlighted, “We’re absolutely planning for all eventualities, including situations where it’s just not tenable to list specific tokens such as USDT.”

In contrast, other exchanges are already taking steps to delist USDT to align with MiCA. For instance, Okx is phasing out USDT-based pairs to enhance compliance with European regulations.