50,000 Europeans ask EU to loosen MiCA stablecoin rewards ban in review

More than 50,000 Europeans have written to the European Commission calling for a softer treatment of stablecoin rewards under MiCA, as the bloc reviews its crypto rules. For PSPs and stablecoin issuers, the issue is not cosmetic: it goes to whether regulated stablecoins can compete on incentives with bank deposits and e-money products.

1. Stand With Crypto EU said the campaign was submitted as the Commission closed its MiCA review consultation on Wednesday. The group wants regulated stablecoin providers to be allowed to offer cashback, loyalty benefits and fee reductions.
2. According to the advocacy group, more than 50,000 supporters wrote to the Commission during the consultation, and more than 126,000 people have separately signed its petition for a more permissive EU approach to stablecoins. The group said that puts the response at more than six times the 8,221 responses submitted to the European Central Bank’s (ECB) digital euro consultation, and far above the 198 responses to the Commission’s 2020 consultation on crypto rules.
3. Under MiCA, issuers and crypto service providers are prohibited from paying interest on stablecoins. Stand With Crypto EU argues that leaves stablecoins at a disadvantage versus bank deposits and other e-money products that can pass benefits through to customers.
4. Harry Pearce Gould, general manager of Stand With Crypto EU, told Cointelegraph that the Commission should use the MiCA review to allow regulated stablecoins to offer rewards to holders. He also said Europe “does need to compete” with the US, which he described as having made “a clear choice to back stablecoins as the settlement layer for tokenisation.”
5. Pearce Gould said allowing rewards could help euro-denominated stablecoins gain adoption and compete with dollar stablecoins. In his framing, stronger euro stablecoins matter for “the euro’s global standing” and “the EU’s payment sovereignty.”

Separately, European central banks are pushing for changes in the opposite direction on other parts of the stablecoin rulebook. In a Sept. 22 response to the Commission’s MiCA review, the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) called for the existing prohibition on stablecoin interest to extend to lending, borrowing and staking arrangements that generate yield. The ESCB also proposed replacing MiCA’s requirement that issuers hold a minimum share of reserves in bank deposits with liquidity thresholds, arguing the current setup could strain lenders if a run forced rapid deposit withdrawals.

The ECB has also pointed to a liquidity mismatch: stablecoins settle around the clock, while reserve assets may not move with the same speed. For issuers, acquirers and PSPs, that is the part of the debate that tends to turn into actual policy, not just industry lobbying.