Circle asks EU to drop MiCA bank-deposit rule for stablecoins - CryptoRank

Circle has reportedly asked European Union policymakers to reconsider a MiCA provision that treats stablecoin reserves held at banks in a way the company argues is ill-suited to the asset class. The request, first reported by CryptoRank, centres on the bank-deposit rule within the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, which governs how issuers of stablecoins such as EURC and USDC must hold and safeguard reserve assets.

At issue is the tension between banking regulation and stablecoin design. Bank-deposit rules are built around deposit insurance and credit-risk frameworks, while stablecoin reserves are typically structured as short-term, highly liquid instruments intended to track a peg. Circle's argument, as summarised, is that applying the bank-deposit treatment adds friction without improving holder protection.

For markets, the significance is regulatory rather than directional. MiCA is one of the first comprehensive regimes for stablecoins, so how EU authorities interpret reserve requirements could shape where issuers base operations, which tokens remain available to European users, and how competing jurisdictions frame their own rules. What to watch next: whether EU bodies signal any openness to amending the provision, and how other major issuers position themselves on the same question.