The stablecoin provisions of MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) formally took effect at the end of June 2024, and by June 2026 have been running for nearly two years. The core outcome hasn’t changed: Tether still has not obtained an e-money token (EMT) license in any EU member state, which means USDT does not qualify as a “compliant stablecoin” under the MiCA framework. The consequences have cascaded from there — since the second half of 2024, several EU-regulated exchanges have progressively removed USDT spot trading pairs from their main boards for EU users, and based on public information, licensed card issuers serving the European market have broadly switched their on-card settlement medium from USDT to USDC or EURC.
The practical impact on USDT card users
The bottom line first: this isn’t breaking news — it’s a status that has already been stable for over a year. What actually matters is distinguishing which type of card you’re using.
The first category: cards issued by EU-licensed entities. These cards are sold in Europe to EU residents, typically backed by an EU-based EMI (Electronic Money Institution) or a partner issuer. Based on public information, these issuers no longer use USDT for on-card settlement in the European market, having switched to USDC/EURC instead. For you as a user, the practical difference is limited: you may still top up with USDT, and the platform performs a currency conversion at the moment of deposit or spend — what you see is a fee, not a compliance risk. MPCard, which plans to enter the EU market, falls into the category that would be bound by this rule set — its Asia Elite variant runs on Asia-Pacific rails with Asia-Pacific BINs and isn’t targeted at the EU market, but should an EU version launch in the future, its settlement medium would necessarily follow MiCA. Crypto.com Visa is another card with licensed operations in Europe; refer to its official disclosures for specific licensing and settlement details.
The second category: cards issued by non-EU entities, used by EU residents. This is the genuine gray zone. Cards like Bybit Card and Bitget are issued by entities outside the EU. EU residents using them for daily spending sit in a middle ground — “neither explicitly banned nor explicitly permitted.” The card works, but its compliance backing comes from a non-EU jurisdiction, and if you run into bank risk controls or tax inquiries, the burden of proof falls on you.
Time-horizon expectations:
- 7 days: No new developments expected. This is a rule that has already been in force for nearly two years; it won’t suddenly escalate.
- 30 days: Watch for announcements from your usual exchanges about EU-region trading pairs — whether another batch of USDT pairs gets delisted.
- 90 days: Watch for more issuers publicly announcing a switch in EU-region settlement currency, and whether EURC’s share of on-card settlement rises.
Historical comparison: this is not the same as the 2023 USDC depeg
Many people mentally link “USDT being marginalized in the EU” with the brief USDC depeg of March 2023, but the two are fundamentally different in nature.
The 2023 USDC depeg was a market event — Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, part of Circle’s reserves were affected, and USDC briefly dropped to $0.87 before recovering within days as the reserve situation became clear. That was a price shock, unrelated to regulation.
MiCA’s impact on USDT is structural and regulation-driven — there’s no such thing as a “recovery” here. USDT’s price has remained stable both inside and outside the EU; the issue isn’t depegging, but the fact that “this token has no compliant status in the EU.” That means it won’t return to normal within days the way it did in 2023 — unless Tether actively applies for and obtains an EMT license, the current status is likely to persist long-term.
A closer parallel is the timeline of MiCA legislation itself: the stablecoin provisions (Title III/IV) took effect in June 2024, ahead of other provisions — more than six months before the full Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) framework. The fact that regulators prioritized stablecoins over service providers itself signals that the EU treats “who issues a stablecoin” as a bigger concern than “who provides trading services.”
Compliance boundaries: permitted / restricted / gray zone
Under the current MiCA framework, the three lines roughly break down as follows:
- Clearly permitted: EMT/ART-licensed stablecoins (such as compliant USDC and EURC) used as the on-card settlement medium, on cards issued by EU-licensed entities.
- Clearly restricted: non-compliant stablecoins (including USDT) as spot trading pairs on the main boards of EU-regulated exchanges — this has been largely delisted already.
- Gray zone: EU residents personally holding USDT, and using USDT cards issued by non-EU entities for daily spending. Personal holding itself is not banned, but its status as a “compliant payment instrument” has no MiCA backing.
Readers who want to understand this line clearly can check our EU Compliance Guide, which breaks down EMT licensing, CASP, and the boundaries of personal holding in more detail. If you’re more focused on a specific country, UK compliance follows an independent path due to Brexit and doesn’t fully align with MiCA — worth reading separately.
Key milestones worth watching
- Tether’s EMT application status: this is the only variable that could fundamentally change USDT’s status in the EU. As of now, there’s no public licensing record; any change should be confirmed against official disclosures from member-state regulators (e.g., BaFin, AMF).
- EURC’s on-card penetration rate: if the euro-native stablecoin’s share of issuer settlement continues to rise, it signals the market voting with its feet, treating a euro stablecoin as the default medium within the EU.
- The next round of exchange USDT pair adjustments: EU main-board USDT spot pairs may continue to shrink — watch the announcement pages of the platforms you use.
- The wind-down of MiCA’s CASP transition period: transition arrangements for crypto service providers vary by member state, and enforcement intensity may change once the transition ends.
Editorial recommendations
- Users holding an EU-licensed USDT card: no action needed. Whether the settlement medium is USDC/EURC is handled on the issuer’s backend — keep topping up and spending as usual, and focus on fees rather than compliance.
- EU residents using a card from a non-EU entity (such as Bybit Card): the card works, but understand you’re in a gray zone. For large, long-term use cases, or scenarios where you’d need to explain the source of funds to a bank or tax authority, prioritize an EU-licensed option instead.
- EU users currently choosing a card: add “whether the issuing entity is EU-licensed” and “whether the settlement currency is compliant” to your comparison checklist — start with our comparison of cards for EU residents.
- Asia-Pacific users: MiCA is an EU-internal rule and doesn’t directly apply to you. Readers focused on Asia-Pacific rails can check the MPCard review — its Asia Elite variant runs on Asia-Pacific BINs, an entirely separate track from the EU settlement shift discussed here.
In one line: USDT’s “downgrade” in the EU is already an established fact, not breaking news. Understanding which type of card you’re using matters more than chasing every delisting announcement.