At a glance

  • Coinbase will convert European Economic Area retail customers’ remaining balances in 14 stablecoins that are not compliant with the EU’s MiCA rules, including USDT, DAI and PYUSD, on 30 Oct, according to its help centre.
  • Balances will become USDC where suitable, or another supported asset or currency where not, at the market rate at the time, Coinbase said.

Customers who want to keep the original tokens must withdraw them to an external wallet by 30 Oct, Coinbase said. Buying, selling and converting the affected coins on the platform is already restricted.

The full list is USDT, PAX, PYUSD, GUSD, GYEN, DAI, BUST, UST, RAI, PAXG, MUSD, USD1, USDS and TGBP, according to the help page. Coinbase said it can no longer support stablecoins whose issuer is not authorised under MiCA, after the transition period for issuers ended on 1 Jul.

Why now

The European Securities and Markets Authority said on 8 Oct that national regulators should require MiCA-licensed platforms to deal with legacy holdings of non-compliant stablecoins within three months, a window that runs to 8 Jan 2027, TokenPost reported. CryptoWatchDesk covered ESMA’s 8 Oct call for platforms to stop serving non-MiCA stablecoins at the time.

Coinbase serves EEA customers through Coinbase Luxembourg S.A., which is authorised as a crypto-asset service provider by Luxembourg’s CSSF, the help page says.

What it changes for users

On 30 Oct, Coinbase will run a one-time conversion of the balance held that day. The balance may briefly show as zero, and a conversion entry will then appear in the transaction history, the company said.

Do not send any of the 14 tokens to a Coinbase account after 30 Oct. Coinbase said such deposits will not be credited, cannot be traded or converted, and may only be returned through its unsupported-asset recovery process, which does not work for every asset or network.

Converting one crypto asset into another may be a taxable event in some countries, Coinbase warned, and it does not give tax advice. If a token later becomes MiCA-compliant, Coinbase said it will reassess support, but that will not reverse a completed conversion.

For the basics, see what a MiCA-compliant stablecoin is.

Related:

Related: The Irish central bank’s €3.25 million fine on Coinbase Ireland

This article is for information only and is not investment advice.