Timeline
- 7.5
ECB calls for tougher EU crypto rules and wider ban on stablecoin interest
The European Central Bank, together with the EU's national central banks, called on EU legislators to toughen the bloc's crypto rulebook and to broaden the existing prohibition on offering interest or rewards on stablecoin holdings, in a push reported on 22 September 2026. The expanded ban would also cover indirect yields channelled through crypto lending, borrowing and staking. The ECB frames the request around financial-stability and monetary-policy risks, making stablecoin yield products the focal point of the EU's next round of crypto policy debate. Because it targets the MiCA framework rather than a single firm, any change would apply across EU-regulated crypto-asset service providers. The ECB's position is an advocacy and consultative stance directed at EU lawmakers, not a binding decision, and any tightening would require amending the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules. Reports also indicate the ECB has backed giving the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) a larger role in EU crypto oversight, alongside calls for changes to how stablecoin reserves are regulated.
- 7.5
ECB, EU cenbanks seek changes in MiCA’s minimum bank deposit for stablecoins
The European System of Central Banks (ESCB) — the ECB and EU national central banks — called for removing MiCA's requirement that at least 30% of stablecoin reserves, or 60% for significant stablecoins, be held as bank deposits. The proposal came in the ESCB's response, published Tuesday, to the European Commission's review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, and instead backs minimum liquidity thresholds for reserve assets maturing within one and five working days. The ESCB argued that the existing rule “creates a direct link between issuers and credit institutions,” and that a stablecoin run could force an issuer to rapidly withdraw deposits and create liquidity problems for a bank, particularly if stablecoin reserves are a significant share of its funding. The proposal echoes concerns raised by parts of the stablecoin industry, including Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, who said Tether refused an EU license over the same clause. Instead of bank deposits, the ESCB pointed to overnight reverse repurchase agreements (repos) and short-term sovereign bonds as alternative instruments issuers could use, citing European Banking Authority draft rules from 2024 that require significant stablecoins to hold at least 40% of reserves in assets maturing within one working day and 60% within five working days, with thresholds of 20% and 30% for non-significant tokens. The ESCB also warned of “material challenges” in enforcing MiCA, saying non-compliant crypto companies can still access EU customers.
- 8.5
ECB's Lagarde Blocked Binance's EU MiCA License, WSJ Reports
The Wall Street Journal reported that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde personally intervened to block Binance's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license application, pressuring regulators to halt a bid that had already been deemed complete. According to the report, the intervention led Greece — where Binance had filed its application — to stall the process rather than approve it. Binance is the largest crypto exchange by volume, and MiCA licensing is the gateway to serving all 27 EU member states under a single passport, so blocking the bid effectively removes the company from the bloc's regulated market. The episode also raises questions about whether an institution with no formal licensing authority under MiCA can shape national regulators' decisions, which matters for every exchange still awaiting approval. The ECB holds no formal licensing authority under MiCA, which assigns approval and supervision of crypto-asset service providers to national competent authorities such as Greece's capital markets regulator, meaning the reported intervention was informal and political rather than a formal regulatory decision. Binance subsequently withdrew its Greek application and said it would seek authorization through a different, as-yet-unnamed EU member state while restricting services for some EU clients.