Circle Pushes EU to Ditch Strict Stablecoin Reserve Rules

Circle, the issuer of popular stablecoins USDC and EURC, has filed a response to the European Commission's review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. The company is urging Brussels to rethink the rules governing stablecoin reserves.

Circle argues that the current framework is too restrictive, requiring issuers to hold at least 30% of their reserves as commercial bank deposits for electronic money tokens (EMTs). For significant EMTs, this jumps to 60%. Circle proposes replacing these fixed deposit floors with dynamic liquidity requirements, judging reserves by how quickly they can meet redemptions.

The company is not alone in its views. The European Central Bank and the European System of Central Banks suggested on September 22, 2026 that fixed deposit floors be swapped for liquidity-based metrics.