Why Tether skipped an EU licence: the 60% bank rule
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company chose not to seek a MiCA licence for USDT because of a rule to hold 60% of reserves in banks.
What he said
On September 22, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the company deliberately chose not to seek authorisation for USDT under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, MiCA. The reason is one rule: significant stablecoin issuers must hold at least 60% of their reserves as commercial bank deposits. Smaller issuers face a 30% threshold. Ardoino has long argued that moving most reserves out of liquid government securities and into banks would make USDT less safe.
Central banks question the rule too
His comments landed as the European Central Bank and other EU central banks proposed scrapping that very requirement. In the Commission's MiCA review, the European System of Central Banks suggested replacing the deposit mandate with a liquidity rule based on assets maturing within one to five working days. Their worry is that large, volatile stablecoin deposits could expose banks to sudden withdrawals. The proposal has not been adopted, and the 60% rule still applies.
For European users
Several regulated platforms seeking MiCA compliance have removed or restricted USDT, while rival issuers have pursued European authorisation. Unless the rule changes, trading USDT on licensed European platforms will stay difficult.