Patrick Hansen says only three of the world’s top 50 stablecoins currently meet MiCA rules

Patrick Hansen, Circle’s senior director for EU strategy and policy, said that since the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, or MiCA, took effect, roughly 35 electronic money tokens (EMTs) from 21 institutions have obtained compliance approval. He said banks and electronic money institutions have been entering the market, pointing to solid momentum for local issuance under the new framework. At the same time, Hansen noted that only three stablecoins among the world’s top 50 by size — USDC, USDG, and EURC — currently satisfy MiCA requirements. The rest remain outside the regulatory perimeter, leaving EU users in what he described as a difficult position: either they lack regulatory protection or they may be cut off from access. Hansen argued that if MiCA is to become a genuine global regulatory model, it needs to achieve two things at once. First, it should help locally issued EMTs expand globally through a competitive regime. Second, it should create a recognition mechanism for compliant offshore stablecoins so that global issuers are brought into the MiCA framework, rather than treating local issuance as the only path to market entry.