ESMA tells EU crypto firms to end services for non-compliant stablecoins

On 8 October, the European Securities and Markets Authority said crypto-asset providers authorised under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation should stop serving EU clients with stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA. The guidance covers trading, exchange, execution, transfers, custody, advice and portfolio management. National regulators are expected to ensure firms do not maintain or introduce access to those tokens, including through technical and contractual controls.

For existing holdings, authorities should require remediation as soon as possible and within three months after the opinion’s publication. A provider may continue only activities needed for liquidation, conversion, withdrawal, transfer or safekeeping, under time-limited and risk-based supervision. The measure is supervisory guidance for national authorities, not an immediate EU-wide confiscation of customer assets. Its practical effect is to require firms to distinguish a token’s MiCA status from the fact that it may still trade elsewhere.