MEXC's USDT Cashback Card Offer Halted by EU Regulation

A new USDT cashback card has been advertised by MEXC, offering up to 10 percent cashback in USDT on every purchase and up to 7 percent a year on the USDT balance held for the card. However, this offer is not available at any provider licensed in the EU due to Article 50 of the MiCA regulation.

Article 50 bars licensed providers from paying interest or rewards related to holding a regulated stablecoin, which includes e-money tokens like USDT. This ban applies to issuers and service providers authorized under MiCAR, and any remuneration or benefit tied to the length of time an e-money token is held is treated as interest.

The EU's intention behind this regulation is to reduce the risk of e-money tokens being used as a store of value. The legislator believes that paying interest on stablecoins would turn them into savings products in foreign currencies, which could lead to deposit volume shifting out of the supervised banking system and creating risks for no-deposit guarantee schemes.