ECB-led central banks urge removal of MiCA’s 60% stablecoin reserve rule

The European System of Central Banks wants Brussels to delete a MiCA rule that forces large stablecoin issuers to park 60% of their reserves in commercial bank deposits, the exact clause that led Tether to skip EU licensing altogether. For institutional investors, the outcome will determine whether euro-area banks or crypto issuers bear the funding risk of the bloc’s fastest-growing stablecoin market.

• The ESCB, grouping the ECB with all 27 national central banks, filed its comments on Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
• MiCA currently requires ordinary stablecoin issuers to hold 30% of reserves in bank deposits and “significant” issuers to hold 60%.
• The European Commission’s consultation on the change closes September 30, 2026, just over a week away.

• 60% reserve deposit floor imposed on large stablecoin issuers under MiCA
• 30% baseline deposit floor for standard issuers, half the top tier
• Sep 30 closing date for the Commission’s review of the rule

The filing lands inside the European Commission’s formal review of MiCA, the bloc’s crypto rulebook, and directly targets a provision Tether has cited as its reason for staying outside the regime.

Stablecoins now underpin much of the payment infrastructure crypto markets run on, from retail settlement to machine-to-machine transactions, which is why a reserve rule buried in MiCA’s technical annex carries weight far beyond Brussels.

ESCB Tells Brussels to Scrap the 60% Bank Deposit Floor

The central banks argue that money tied to token issuance and redemption is not the kind of stable funding banks depend on. Heavy redemptions, the filing said, could drain that money from lenders overnight, exactly when banks need it most. The rule under scrutiny sits in MiCA, which sets how issuers must invest the cash and bonds backing every token in circulation.

In place of the fixed deposit floors, the ESCB wants a minimum share of reserves held in assets that mature within one to five working days. The same submission, first flagged in a post on X citing Reuters, said regulators face “material challenges” policing the rules because non-compliant crypto firms still reach EU customers.

The ECB has separately warned that expanding euro stablecoin issuance could squeeze bank lending capacity, a concern that predates this filing but reinforces its logic. Brussels now has two competing pressures on the same clause: banks that want less exposure to redemption swings, and issuers that want less exposure to bank balance sheets.

Tether Refused the Same Clause, Citing the €100,000 Deposit Insurance Cap

Tether, issuer of USDT, the largest stablecoin by market value, never applied for a MiCA license. Chief executive Paolo Ardoino has argued since 2024 that forcing reserves into bank deposits makes tokens less safe, not more, because EU deposit insurance stops at 100,000 euros.

When MiCA becomes safer for consumers and stablecoin issuers, then we might reconsider.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO, Tether

The two complaints point in opposite directions. Ardoino wants token holders shielded from bank failures; the ESCB wants banks shielded from token redemptions.

Circle’s Push and Revolut’s Retreat Set Up the Sep 30 Deadline

Revolut dropped USDT from its European offering this year, a sign issuers are already adjusting to MiCA’s compliance lines rather than waiting for a rewrite. BeInCrypto reported in July that rival issuer Circle was separately backing a MiCA amendment that could open a path for Tether to return to the bloc.

The 30% and 60% deposit floors remain binding law until EU lawmakers formally amend MiCA, regardless of what the ESCB’s comments recommend.

The CCS read. Whichever way this goes, the fight shows MiCA’s reserve rules were written for issuers holding balance sheets like banks, not issuers moving billions in redemptions daily. If Brussels grants the ESCB’s request, expect euro-area banks to lobby harder against any stablecoin issuer scaling deposits at their expense, and expect Circle’s push to matter more than Tether’s absence.

The European Commission’s consultation window closes September 30, 2026, and its next move will show whether central bank funding concerns or issuer liquidity concerns shape MiCA’s rewrite, with Tether still holding no EU authorization either way.