Circle Wins EU MiCA Authorization for USDC, EURC Custody and Transfers Across Europe

USDC is Circle’s dollar-linked stablecoin, backed 1:1 by cash and highly liquid assets including short-dated U.S. Treasuries, with about $73.2 billion in circulation when federal approval was announced. Circle has historically issued the token through entities holding state money-transmission and virtual-currency licenses. Separating issuance from reserve custody under state and federal trust regimes gives banks and other institutions clearer lines of supervision, fiduciary responsibility and asset segregation, strengthening USDC’s claim to regulated digital-dollar infrastructure.

On July 31, 2026, Circle said the New York State Department of Financial Services granted Circle Internet Trust Company a limited-purpose trust charter, positioning the subsidiary to assume USDC issuance. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency had given final approval on July 10 to First National Digital Currency Bank, N.A., operating as Circle National Trust, after conditional clearance on Dec. 12, 2025. The federal bank will initially custody digital assets for Circle affiliates and may later manage USDC reserves, creating a state-supervised issuance layer alongside federally supervised custody.

The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, is the world’s first comprehensive cryptocurrency regulatory framework. It requires stablecoin issuers to obtain electronic money institution authorization to operate in Europe, with the aim of preventing systemic market risks. Tether, the issuer of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin, has yet to secure authorization, and the new rules are having a major impact on liquidity and the trading ecosystem in Europe.

After MiCA’s stablecoin transition period ended on July 1, digital bank Revolut announced that it would delist USDT trading in the European Economic Area and Switzerland in August. Exchanges including Coinbase and Binance have also been gradually delisting non-compliant stablecoins. The shift has allowed Circle’s compliant stablecoins USDC and EURC to expand rapidly, while the EU is also considering bringing non-euro stablecoins and tokenized assets within the scope of future reviews.

European banks have accelerated their push into cross-border payments and treasury management with compliant stablecoins since MiCA took effect. Luxembourg-based Banking Circle launched its euro stablecoin, EURI, in August 2024. Competitors include Société Générale subsidiary SG-FORGE, Switzerland's Sygnum and Qivalis, a consortium of 12 banks that plans to issue a stablecoin in the second half of 2026.

Banking Circle obtained a CASP license from Luxembourg's regulator on April 15, 2026, and launched an institutional stablecoin settlement service on April 27. The service supports two-way conversions between fiat currencies and USDC, USDG and EURI. Banking Circle serves more than 750 payment companies and financial institutions, while its platform transfers and converts more than €1.5 trillion annually. The global stablecoin market capitalization stands at $293 billion.

The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, became fully applicable on December 30, 2024, establishing a harmonized framework for crypto-asset services. ClearBank Europe obtained a Dutch banking license in August 2024. The group serves more than 270 institutional clients and holds £18 billion in client deposits, and its adoption of stablecoins marks a further step toward linking traditional clearing banks with blockchain-based payments.

On April 9, 2026, the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets confirmed that ClearBank Europe had completed its MiCAR notification, making it the first credit institution in the Netherlands to obtain crypto-asset service provider status. The bank will connect to Circle Mint, enabling institutional clients to convert euros and U.S. dollars into EURC and USDC and vice versa for cross-border payments and settlement. No investment amount or launch date was disclosed.

The European Commission proposed its Market Integration Package on December 4, 2025, to integrate the bloc’s fragmented capital markets and strengthen supervision. The initiative is tied to the EU’s need for an additional €750 billion–€800 billion in annual investment through 2030. It will also help determine whether MiCA-compliant stablecoins can bridge traditional finance and blockchain-based settlement.

Circle submitted feedback to the European Commission on March 20, 2026, and made its reform proposals public on March 23. It called for flexible thresholds and a path to permanence for the DLT Pilot Regime, as well as permission for all MiCA-compliant e-money tokens, or EMTs, to participate in settlement. Circle said no euro-denominated EMT, including EURC, is close to the market-capitalization threshold for being deemed “significant.”