EU Reportedly Eyes Ban on Stablecoin Deposit Interest

The European Union will look into banning crypto platforms from charging interest on stablecoin deposits, said tweets from Patrick Hansen, head of strategy at Unstoppable Finance, a decentralized finance (DeFi) firm.

He said lawmakers will be looking into high regulatory requirements for issuers of any stablecoins, without exceptions for algorithmic stablecoins.

The decision will be announced at a meeting of representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, taking place June 30. This meeting will be the final one in a number of sessions on the MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) bill on regulating cryptocurrencies.

The main issues are already passed for every stage of agreement and only a few smaller points have yet to be clarified, Hansen said.

Hansen said the EU Commission will be prepared to add new rules governing NFT tokens, to protect consumers through requiring NFT platforms to get special licenses.

He said a bitcoin ban isn’t currently something on the table, though the EU wants to roll out special conditions for every individual digital asset.

And while the DeFi industry isn’t a part of the consideration, the European Commission wants to put out another report on that, with a pilot to oversee it in 2023.

See also: EU Less Likely to Have Battle Over Crypto Regulator

Regulation over digital assets isn’t a new topic — PYMNTS wrote recently that Europe hasn’t had much difficulty finding what agency should be in charge of regulating crypto, a difference from the U.S.

This is likely because there aren’t a lot of different regulators, with the only contender being the European Securities and Market Authority (ESMA).

ESMA was chosen as the top crypto regulator for the region, at least for the MiCA draft. But it will share some of the responsibilities with the European Banking Authority on some types of stablecoins.