Introduction
In a significant development, Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, has announced its decision to delist trading pairs for nine stablecoins in the European Economic Area (EEA) by March 31. This move is in alignment with the exchange’s efforts to comply with the European Union’s (EU) Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which brings about stricter regulations for digital assets.
Stablecoins Being Delisted
Binance made it clear that the stablecoins affected by its decision include Tether (USDT), First Digital USD (FDUSD), TrueUSD (TUSD), Pax Dollar (USDP), Dai (DAI), Anchored Euro (AEUR), TerraUSD (UST), TerraClassicUSD (USTC), and Paxos Gold (PAXG). Users can continue trading these assets until the deadline, post which Binance will remove them from its spot market.
Margin Trading Changes
From March 27, Binance will implement changes to margin trading. Non-compliant margin pairs will be delisted and any remaining balances will be converted to Circle’s USD Coin (USDC). Binance has urged traders to manage their positions in advance to avoid forced liquidations.
Continued Support for Non-Compliant Stablecoins
Despite the restrictions, Binance will continue to support deposits, withdrawals, and conversions of non-compliant stablecoins through Binance Convert. The exchange will also maintain custody services for these assets. Binance plans to introduce fee-free trading for specific pairs and offer rewards to users switching to USDC or EURI. Users are advised to update their Binance Earn and Loan holdings to stablecoins that meet MiCA requirements.
MiCA Compliance and Its Impact
Introduced in December 2024, MiCA provides a unified regulatory framework for digital assets across the EU. Since its implementation, several major crypto trading platforms, including Coinbase and Crypto.com, have announced plans to delist non-compliant stablecoins for European users. However, Tether has criticized the rapid implementation of these measures, arguing that they could disrupt the market and introduce new risks. It stressed that regulatory shifts should be carefully managed to prevent unintended consequences.
