---
title: "Circle's USDC becomes the EU's first 'significant' stablecoin; EBA oversight starts November 12"
description: "The European Banking Authority takes direct supervision of USDC's reserves on November 12, the first such designation among 45 e-money tokens under MiCA. Tether never sought authorization, so USDC is the dollar stablecoin left standing on regulated EU venues, under reserve rules Circle spent October lobbying to rewrite."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Money"
published: 2026-10-15T15:31:52.522Z
modified: 2026-10-15T15:31:52.522Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/circle-s-usdc-becomes-the-eu-s-first-significant-stablecoin-eba-oversight-starts-november-12
language: en
keywords: "Stablecoins, Circle, Regulation, European Union, MiCA, Tether"
---

# Circle's USDC becomes the EU's first 'significant' stablecoin; EBA oversight starts November 12

> The European Banking Authority takes direct supervision of USDC's reserves on November 12, the first such designation among 45 e-money tokens under MiCA. Tether never sought authorization, so USDC is the dollar stablecoin left standing on regulated EU venues, under reserve rules Circle spent October lobbying to rewrite.

On October 14, 2026, the European Banking Authority (EBA) classified USDC, the dollar stablecoin of [Circle](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/circle) (NYSE: CRCL), [as a significant e-money token under MiCA](https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-10-15-eba-designates-circles-usdc-as-the-eus-first-significant-e-money-token-418637), the European Union's crypto rulebook [1][2][3]. It is the first of 45 notified e-money tokens to carry the label [1][2]. From November 12 the EBA replaces France's ACPR, the national regulator that licensed [Circle](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001876042) in 2024, as direct supervisor of the issuer's own funds, reserves, liquidity and recovery and redemption plans [1][2]. The ACPR keeps governance and fit-and-proper checks [1][2].

## Europe's compliant dollar now has one landlord

The designation has no rival inside the fence. Tether's USDT, at $184 billion in circulation against USDC's $73 billion, never sought MiCA authorization, and major regulated EU platforms delisted it before July 1, 2026 [1][3]. Tether chief executive Paolo Ardoino has said the deposit rule is why [4][5]. [Only three of the world's 25 largest stablecoins are regulated under MiCA](https://cryptoslate.com/circle-and-tether-find-common-ground-against-micas-bank-reserve-rules/) [4][5]. From November, EU platforms listing USDC offer a token whose reserves answer to the EBA, not a national authority [1].

## Circle is lobbying against the rules it just inherited

The rule at issue: MiCA obliges e-money token issuers to keep at least 30% of reserves in commercial bank deposits, and the floor rises to 60% for significant tokens [4][5]. USDC's new label moves it into the 60% tier. The designation also touches the way USDC is built: a French Circle entity issues the coin to European holders and a US entity to everyone else, as one fungible token [2].

Circle's [October 1 response to the European Commission's MiCA review](https://decrypt.co/379984/circle-pushes-back-on-micas-bank-deposit-mandate-for-stablecoins), filed two weeks before the designation, asks for the deposit mandate to be replaced by a flexible liquidity requirement [2][5]. It argues compulsory deposits concentrate bank credit risk, and it wants a 35% single-sovereign cap and a 1.5%-of-bank-assets deposit ceiling scrapped as well [4][5]. The argument has unlikely company: Circle lines up with the European Central Bank, and it echoes Tether's [4][5]. The EBA, meanwhile, wants that two-entity structure tightened [4].

## The coin grew 19%; the income grew 7%

The economics explain the urgency. [USDC in circulation hit $73.3 billion at the end of June 2026, up 19% year on year](https://kalkine.com/news/earnings/circle-nysecrcl-revises-2026-guidance-before-its-november-4-earnings-report-as-usdc-reaches-733-billion), after $77.0 billion at the end of March [1][6]. Second-quarter revenue and reserve income rose 7% to $701 million [6]. About 95% of that is interest on the reserves, and yields near 3.5% mean a bigger float earns less per dollar [7].

The bigger leak is distribution. Distribution, transaction and other costs took $412 million of the quarter's $701 million, paid largely to the partners that circulate the coin [6]. Binance alone [bought a $100 million stake in September alongside a five-year deal paying it monthly incentives tied to USDC balances](https://theinference.org/article/binance-bought-100-million-of-circle-at-5-off-and-circle-pays-it-monthly-anyway) [1][3]. Net income was $48 million [6].

*Chart: **Circle's revenue has gone sideways since its $770 million Q4 2025 peak** Line chart of Circle's quarterly revenue and reserve income from Q3 2024 to Q2 2026, rising to $770.2 million in Q4 2025 then sitting near $700 million through the first half of 2026.*

*Circle's revenue has gone sideways since its $770 million Q4 2025 peak [9]*

*Chart: **Distribution costs consumed most of Circle's Q2 revenue** Bar chart comparing Circle's Q2 2026 revenue and reserve income with its distribution and transaction costs, adjusted EBITDA and net income.*

*Distribution costs consumed most of Circle's Q2 revenue [6]*

## What November settles

Circle reports third-quarter results on November 4, 2026, against other-revenue guidance of $310 million to $330 million [6]. CFO Jeremy Fox-Geen, more than five years in the seat and a $1.2 billion IPO behind him, [leaves at the end of December](https://theinference.org/article/circle-s-ipo-cfo-walks-out-days-after-binance-bought-in-at-5-off) [8]. The supervisory handover binds on November 12 [1]. The tell is whether the EBA's first acts touch the 60% deposit floor that comes with significance. EU venues and holders get the safer coin. Circle's shareholders carry the cost of keeping it that way.

## Takeaway

The EU's first 'significant' stablecoin designation lands on USDC alone: MiCA's 60% deposit floor now binds the coin that grew 19% while its income grew 7%, and the EBA's first acts after November 12 will tell whether compliance gets cheaper or dearer.

## Sources

1. [FinanceMagnates, EU Banking Regulator Takes Over Key Oversight of Circle's USDC Stablecoin, 15 October 2026](https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/eu-banking-regulator-takes-over-key-oversight-of-circles-usdc-stablecoin/)
2. [CryptoSlate, USDC splits global reserves as EBA enforces Nov 12 handover, 15 October 2026](https://cryptoslate.com/usdc-splits-global-reserves-as-eba-enforces-nov-12-handover/)
3. [The Block, EBA designates Circle's USDC as the EU's first 'significant' e-money token, 15 October 2026](https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2026-10-15-eba-designates-circles-usdc-as-the-eus-first-significant-e-money-token-418637)
4. [CryptoSlate, Circle and Tether find common ground against MiCA's bank reserve rules, 5 October 2026](https://cryptoslate.com/circle-and-tether-find-common-ground-against-micas-bank-reserve-rules/)
5. [Decrypt, Circle Pushes Back on MiCA's Bank-Deposit Mandate for Stablecoins, 2 October 2026](https://decrypt.co/379984/circle-pushes-back-on-micas-bank-deposit-mandate-for-stablecoins)
6. [Kalkine, Circle (NYSE:CRCL) Revises 2026 Guidance Before Its November 4 Earnings Report as USDC Reaches $73.3 Billion, 15 October 2026](https://kalkine.com/news/earnings/circle-nysecrcl-revises-2026-guidance-before-its-november-4-earnings-report-as-usdc-reaches-733-billion)
7. [Crypto Briefing, Circle reports $14 trillion-plus in USDC activity as volume grows 151%, 8 October 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/circle-usdc-14-trillion-transaction-volume/)
8. [Business Wire via StreetInsider, Circle Announces CFO Transition Plan, 25 September 2026](https://www.streetinsider.com/Business+Wire/Circle+Announces+CFO+Transition+Plan/27107353.html)
9. [Circle, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 15 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001876042)


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Circle's USDC becomes the EU's first 'significant' stablecoin; EBA oversight starts November 12 — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/circle-s-usdc-becomes-the-eu-s-first-significant-stablecoin-eba-oversight-starts-november-12