The first one, named in October 2026
Which stablecoins count as significant in the EU? As of November 8, 2026, exactly one. In a press release dated October 14, 2026, the European Banking Authority said it had classified USDC, issued by Circle Internet Financial Europe SAS, as significant, the first of the 45 e-money tokens notified under MiCA to get the label.
The handover starts on November 12, 2026. From that day the EBA directly supervises USDC’s own funds, reserve of assets and liquidity requirements, along with its recovery and redemption plans, taking them over from France’s ACPR, which keeps governance, qualifying holdings, fit and proper checks, outsourcing and conflicts of interest. The decision covers USDC alone, and the press release does not say which criteria the coin met.
Seven tests, three needed
Article 56 of MiCA borrows the seven criteria written for asset-referenced tokens in Article 43. A token is classified once it meets at least three of them, either in the first reporting period after launch or in two reports in a row.
| Criterion | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Holders | More than 10 million |
| Value issued, market capitalization or reserve | More than €5 billion |
| Average daily transactions | More than 2.5 million and €500 million |
| Issuer designated a gatekeeper under the Digital Markets Act | Yes or no |
| Significance on an international scale, including payments and remittances | Judged by the EBA |
| Interconnectedness with the financial system | Judged by the EBA |
| Same issuer issues another token and provides at least one crypto-asset service | Yes or no |
For scale, data provider DefiLlama counted about 517 million EURC in circulation on November 8, 2026, roughly a tenth of the €5 billion line, against about 70.6 billion USDC worldwide. The issuer gets 20 working days to comment on a draft decision, the EBA must decide within 60 working days, and it reassesses every significant token once a year.
What changes for the issuer
Article 58 swaps the e-money rules on safeguarding funds for the stablecoin reserve rules of Articles 36 to 38. On top come a remuneration policy, custody by different providers on fair terms, a liquidity policy with regular stress tests and own funds of at least 3% of the average reserve.
The reserve also needs an independent audit every six months, counted from the classification decision, which tests compliance with all the reserve rules rather than the single comparison of a reserve attestation.
One carve-out exists. A significant token in an EU currency other than the euro stays with its national supervisor when at least 80% of its holders and transactions are in the home country.
A label, not a stamp of approval
Treating “significant” as a mark of quality gets the term backwards. The EBA’s supervisory page says the additional requirements exist “to address the greater risks they may pose”, and the label brings a supervisory college, chaired by the EBA, for each such issuer. Permission to issue still comes from the issuer’s license as a bank or electronic money institution.
An issuer can also volunteer. Under Article 57, it has to show through a detailed business plan that it is likely to meet three of the criteria. The next scheduled check is the EBA’s annual reassessment of USDC.