Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino expressed significant concerns about the European Union’s new Market for Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation in a recent interview, arguing that it introduces systemic risks rather than enhancing stability.
Ardoino criticized MiCA, which came into effect on June 30, for its strict restrictions on stablecoin operations within the European Economic Area. The regulation requires that at least 60% of the reserves backing stablecoins be held in EU bank accounts. Ardoino noted that this requirement could exacerbate systemic risk as it puts significant pressure on financial institutions that already operate under a fractional reserve banking system.
“Instead of making the system more secure, MiCA creates a huge amount of systemic risk,” Ardoino said, highlighting concerns about the fragility of such a banking system where only a fraction of deposits are easily accessible and potentially leading to bank runs.
Ardoino noted that cash deposits in the EU are only insured up to $100,000. He argued that this level of insurance is insufficient for large stablecoin issuers like Tether, and that regulation could undermine rather than support the stability of the financial system.
*This is not investment advice.
