ESMA said authorized platforms must block new access to stablecoins that fail to meet MiCA rules, while national authorities oversee existing customer holdings.

• New European Securities and Markets Authority guidance requires authorized crypto platforms to stop services that allow EU customers to trade or increase holdings of stablecoins that do not comply with the bloc’s Markets in Crypto Assets rules.
• The guidance does not name specific tokens. Tether’s dollar-pegged USDT, the largest stablecoin by market value, is a prominent example that is not authorized under MiCA.
• National regulators should ensure remaining customer holdings are resolved within three months, while allowing limited services for users to sell, convert, withdraw, transfer or safeguard existing tokens.

European Union crypto platforms have up to three months to end customer exposure to USDT and other stablecoins that do not meet the bloc’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) rules under new guidance issued Thursday by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

The guidance, issued as an opinion to national authorities, does not name any tokens. Tether-issued USDT is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization and the standout large-scale example of a token that’s not authorized under MiCA. PayPal USD

MiCA’s stablecoin rules began applying in June 2024, requiring issuers of dollar-and euro-pegged tokens offered to EU users to meet authorization, reserve, redemption and disclosure requirements. ESMA refers to stablecoins as asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens.

“ESMA considers that CASPs should not provide crypto-asset services in relation to ARTs or EMTs that are not compliant with the applicable requirements under MiCA (non-MiCA compliant ARTs or EMTs),” the regulator said, using an acronym for crypto-asset service providers.

Several platforms had already restricted USDT for European users. MiCA’s full rules for crypto platforms took effect on July 1, forcing firms without authorization to stop serving clients in the bloc.

The guidance said authorized crypto firms must stop offering services that let EU customers buy, trade, swap or otherwise increase their holdings of affected stablecoins.

The rules cover exchange services, trade execution, transfers, custody, administration, advice and portfolio management.

National regulators should require any remaining customer holdings to be resolved “as soon as possible, and no later than three months” after the opinion’s publication, ESMA said. That places the deadline at Jan. 8, 2027.

In the meantime, platforms may provide limited services to resolve existing holdings. These can include selling, converting, withdrawing, transferring or safekeeping tokens, but not purchases, promotion, trading or continued market availability.

EU users who keep USDT on an exchange will have to follow that platform’s instructions. Some may be able to sell or withdraw it during the wind-down period; others may face an earlier cutoff.

ESMA said keeping noncompliant stablecoins available through authorized platforms would weaken the reserve, redemption, governance and disclosure rules MiCA imposes on authorized issuers.

The opinion is directed at national regulators, who will decide how individual platforms handle their remaining client balances within the three-month outer limit.

As stablecoins move into regulated finance, APAC is becoming a key proving ground. This report maps the region’s rules, use cases, and RLUSD’s role.