Circle EU Policy Director: "MiCA Stablecoin Regulation Proposal Has Major Gap, Needs to Introduce Offshore Token Recognition Mechanism"

July 29th, Patrick Hansen, Circle's Senior Director of EU Strategy and Policy (@paddi_hansen), pointed out that since the implementation of the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), approximately 35 Electronic Money Tokens (EMTs) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance certification. Banks and electronic money institutions have entered the market, and the momentum of local issuance is strong.

However, among the top 50 stablecoins globally, only USDC, USDG, and EURC currently meet MiCA requirements. The rest are outside the regulatory framework, leaving EU users in a dual dilemma of lack of protection or being forced to cut off access.

Hansen believes that for MiCA to truly become a global regulatory blueprint, it must simultaneously achieve two goals: first, promote local EMTs to go global through a competitive institutional approach, and second, establish a recognition mechanism for foreign compliant stablecoins to attract global issuers to join the MiCA regulatory framework, rather than treating local issuance as the sole entry path.