Coinbase Ends USDC Rewards in Europe as MiCA Deadline Looms

Crypto exchange Coinbase will discontinue its USDC Rewards program for customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) starting December 1, 2024, as part of its compliance with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.

Coinbase users reported receiving an email Thursday in which the exchange announced the termination of its yield program, which allowed users to earn rewards on their holdings of the USDC stablecoin.

The change comes as MiCA, introduced in June 2023, imposes stricter rules on stablecoins, classifying them as electronic money tokens (EMTs).

These rules ban interest-earning features and require issuers to maintain sufficient reserves and obtain e-money authorization in at least one EU member state.

Impacted customers will receive their final payments within the first ten business days of December. Until then, they can continue earning rewards on balances through November 30.

Many customers have expressed dissatisfaction with the changes. Paul Berg, co-founder of Sablier, sarcastically remarked on Twitter that he feels “very grateful to the EU” for shielding him from earning rewards on his USDC.

Ripple’s CTO David Schwartz weighed in, describing the situation as an example of regulations preventing companies from offering “pro-consumer” services.

Coinbase had hinted at the coming change October, announcing plans to delist or adjust non-compliant tokens ahead of MiCA’s full enforcement on December 30.

At the time, the crypto exchange told Decrypt it would provide a detailed transition plan in November to help European customers switch to compliant stablecoins, such as USDC and EURC.

On Wednesday, stablecoin issuer Tether also announced it will stop minting euro-backed tokens, citing regulatory hurdles in Europe.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said the focus will now shift to expanding Hadron, its asset tokenization platform.

Coinbase did not immediately respond to Decrypt’s request for comment.