Tether has declined to apply for an MiCA license in the EU due to the reserve requirement rule at banks.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino explained the refusal: the regulation requires holding 60% of the reserves of “significant” stablecoin issuers in commercial bank deposits, which, in his view, makes stablecoins less secure—deposit insurance in the EU covers only €100,000.

Ardoino: “When MiCA becomes safer for consumers and stablecoin issuers, then we might reconsider our decision.”