EU Tightens Rules on USDT — Support for Non-MiCA Stablecoins Must End by January 8

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has told national regulators to make licensed crypto services stop supporting stablecoins that do not meet MiCA requirements. It has set a maximum deadline of three months to wind down remaining positions and servicing arrangements — effectively by January 8, 2027.

The new ESMA opinion was published on October 8. Formally, the document is addressed to national supervisory authorities in EU countries, which must ensure that MiCA-licensed companies comply with the requirements.

The rules cover almost the entire range of crypto services: trading platforms, the purchase and exchange of assets, order execution and transmission, investment advice, portfolio management, transfers, and the custody and administration of crypto-assets.

USDT Is Not Named Directly, but the Restrictions Apply to It Too

ESMA does not list specific coins in the document. However, the main asset affected remains Tether USDT, since its issuer has not obtained the required authorization in the EU.

European regulators had already classified USDT as a stablecoin that does not comply with MiCA. As a result, major platforms have already restricted or completely removed trading in it for clients in the European Economic Area.

Previously, the requirements were noticeably narrower. In ESMA’s January 2025 guidance, the main focus was on trading, exchange and other operations that could be considered a public offering of the token. Simple custody and transfers could still remain available at that point.

Now ESMA is extending its approach to the entire list of MiCA services, closing off the possibility for a licensed service to continue full support for such a stablecoin through individual platform features.

USDT Will Not Disappear From Users’ Wallets on January 8

The new requirements do not mean a ban on USDT itself in the European Union and do not provide for the automatic destruction or blocking of coins in personal wallets.

If a client still holds stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA, services may be temporarily allowed to carry out operations needed for selling, converting, withdrawing, transferring or safely storing them. At the same time, such mechanisms must be used only to close existing positions, not to buy new tokens or increase a balance.

ESMA separately requires that the transitional regime be limited in time, take risks into account and be supervised by national regulators.

Thus, January 8 is primarily a deadline for winding down the remaining arrangements under which licensed European platforms provide full servicing of non-MiCA stablecoins, not the date of a “ban on USDT” as a cryptocurrency.

For the European market, this completes a process that began after MiCA rules for stablecoins took effect in the summer of 2024. Users of regulated platforms are increasingly being moved to assets whose issuers have obtained the necessary European authorizations.