EBA classifies Circle’s USDC as significant under MiCA

Is USDC now under EU-level supervision? Yes: the European Banking Authority has classified Circle’s USDC as the EU’s first “significant” e-money token under MiCA, moving oversight of key financial safeguards to the bloc’s banking regulator. The Block’s report on the EBA decision says USDC is the first of 45 e-money tokens notified under MiCA to meet the significance threshold.

Which parts of USDC’s supervision move to the EBA?

From Nov. 12, the EBA will directly supervise USDC’s own funds, reserve assets, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption plans, according to the report. Those areas are currently overseen by France’s Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR). The designation therefore changes which authority oversees these specific requirements; it does not hand the EBA every part of Circle’s supervision.

What remains with France, and what happens next?

The ACPR will retain responsibility for governance, qualifying holdings, fit-and-proper assessments, and conflicts of interest after the change. The EBA also signed a memorandum of understanding with the New York State Department of Financial Services, which oversees Circle’s New York-regulated operations, to support cross-border oversight and information exchange. That gives the new EU-level supervision a formal channel for coordination with a US regulator.

For you, the immediate significance is a change in who supervises USDC’s reserves and liquidity within the EU, while other supervisory duties remain in France. The classification applies to USDC under MiCA; it does not, by itself, describe a change to the token’s redemption terms. Watch Nov. 12, when the EBA is due to take on its new direct supervisory responsibilities.

References

• Block’s report on the EBA decision — theblock.co