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A Kraken executive denied the exchange plans to delist Tether’s USDT stablecoin in Europe on May 18.
Global Head of Asset Growth & Management Business Mark Greenberg said the company is examining “all options to offer USDT under the upcoming regime.”
Greenberg added that the company will follow all legal requirements, including rules that it opposes, and asserted that the rules have not been finalized.
The company’s plans to maintain its offerings extend beyond USDT. Greenberg said:
” … We continue to do everything we can to continue to offer all relevant stablecoins to our European customers.”
Greenberg did not name the regulations in question. However, the relevant regulatory regime is the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), which will take effect in July. MiCA requires fiat-backed stablecoin issuers to register as electronic money institutions (EMIs) and satisfy other requirements.
Greenberg added that Kraken is working to relist certain coins delisted in Germany. He did not specify the coins.
Earlier statements
On May 17, Bloomberg suggested Kraken could delist USDT in the EU based on statements from Kraken Global Head of Regulatory Strategy Marcus Hughes.
In an interview, Hughes said the exchange could face circumstances where it is “not tenable to list specific tokens such as USDT” in the EU. He also warned that MiCA could more broadly reduce the number of stablecoins and types of stablecoins available in the region.
Shortly after Bloomberg’s report, The Block cited a Kraken spokesperson who denied any plans to delist or alter USDT trading pairs. The spokesperson nevertheless acknowledged the firm is “constantly evaluating [its] global strategy and operations” for compliance.
USDT issuer Tether also told Bloomberg that it expects EU exchanges to maintain their USDT trading pairs amidst the changing regulations.
Another exchange, OKX, has delisted USDT in Europe but plans to continue listing USDC.
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