ECB, EU Central Banks Call for Revisions to MiCA Stablecoin Deposit Requirement

According to the European Central Bank (ECB) and the central banks of EU member states, it would be advisable to substitute the requirement of the minimum threshold of deposits for reserves of stablecoins with other liquidity criteria. The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) sought to abolish the requirement that at least 30 percent of the reserve, or 60 percent if the crypto is a stablecoin, should be stored in the form of bank deposits. This recommendation was put forward by the ESCB in its reaction to the European Commission's review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). 

ESCB Raises Concerns Over Non-Compliant Crypto Firms Serving EU Users

Rather than relying on the current deposit requirements, the ESCB supported the introduction of minimum liquidity ratios for reserves that mature in one and five business days. Additionally, it emphasised the use of overnight reverse repos and sovereign bonds of short maturities as instruments to provide liquidity.

The new proposal has some similarities with past issues highlighted by the stablecoins industry in the past, such as the warning given by the CEO of Tether since at least 2024 about the potential systematic risks associated with MiCA's bank deposit requirements. The ESCB mentioned that this requirement “creates a direct link between issuers and credit institutions,” which exposes the credit institution to liquidity risk in case of a stablecoin run that requires the issuer to pull out its deposits.

The central banks referred to the rules proposed by the European Banking Authority (EBA) in 2024, whereby major stablecoins must have at least 40 percent of reserves in one-working-day maturity assets and 60 percent of reserves in five-working day maturity assets. The respective percentages for the non-major stablecoins stand at 20 percent and 30 percent. Apart from the reserves of stablecoins, the ESCB noted the existence of “material difficulties” in implementing MiCA regulations since the non-complying crypto firms can still serve EU customers.  

The proposed changes come as the euro stablecoin market continues to expand under the MiCA framework. In July, a report published by payments infrastructure company Decta revealed that the market capitalisation of euro-stablecoins that are MiCA-compliant increased by 128 percent in the year prior to the conclusion of the transition period under the regulation. The total trading volume increased by 43.1 percent to $67.3 million (roughly Rs. 641 crore) from $47 million (roughly Rs. 448 crore). The number of euro stablecoins that were MiCA-compliant was 8, compared with 5 during the reporting period.