USDC becomes significant in EU on October 14, 2026: What it means for the USDC price

Published on 10/20/2026 at 13:05 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS

EBA supervision begins November 12, 2026. The USDC price is 1.0009 USD on October 20, 2026; circulation was 72.5 billion on October 15.

Regulation and circulation

Europe's regulator classified USDC as the first significant e-money token on October 14, 2026.
Dual supervision of reserves and liquidity begins on November 12, 2026.
The USDC price stands at 1.0009 USD as of October 20, 2026.
Circulation reached 73.3 billion USDC in the second quarter, up 19 percent year over year.

USDC, XCRYPTOUSDC0, Illustration mit AI erstellt.

USDC (USDC) became the European Union's first significant e-money token on October 14, 2026, under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, according to the European Banking Authority. The USDC price trades at 1.0009 USD as of October 20, 2026, according to Investing.com, while Circle reported circulation of 72.5 billion USDC on October 15, 2026.

EBA supervision starts November 12, 2026

The EBA said on October 14, 2026, that direct supervisory responsibility for USDC's own funds, reserve assets, liquidity requirements, and recovery and redemption plans will move from France's ACPR to the EBA on November 12, 2026. The ACPR will retain responsibility for governance, qualifying holdings, fit-and-proper assessments, outsourcing, and conflicts of interest, according to the European Banking Authority.

The classification places USDC in a group of 45 e-money tokens notified under MiCA, with USDC the first to receive the significant designation, the regulator said on October 14, 2026. The change concerns supervision of the European Union issuer and its reserves rather than the token's 1.00 USD target.

Reserve rules add a 60 percent threshold

Ledger Insights reported on October 15, 2026, that significant e-money tokens face a 60 percent commercial-bank deposit requirement under MiCA, compared with 30 percent for other issuers, while the capital requirement rises from 2 percent to 3 percent of reserves. The report also said the EBA did not disclose which significance criteria USDC met, leaving the classification's specific basis unstated by the regulator. These requirements create a compliance consideration for the European Union issuer without changing USDC's stated redemption target, according to Ledger Insights.

Circulation reached 73.3 billion USDC in the second quarter of 2026, a 19 percent increase from a year earlier, as Reuters reported on October 16, 2026. The same report described Circle's plan to enter about 40 emerging and developing markets, adding a distribution dimension to the regulatory development.

USDC trades near its dollar peg

The USDC price is 1.0009 USD as of October 20, 2026, according to Investing.com. The daily high is 1.0011 USD and the daily low (UTC day) is 1.0009 USD. Market capitalization is 72.43 billion USD, ranking sixth, while 24-hour volume is 12.68 billion USD and circulating supply is 72.42 billion USDC.