50,000 Europeans Push Brussels to Allow Stablecoin Rewards
More than 50,000 Europeans have urged the European Commission to allow stablecoins to offer rewards amid calls from the region’s central banks for tighter restrictions.
The responses were submitted during the Commission’s review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which closed on September 30, crypto advocacy group Stand With Crypto EU said in a Thursday press release shared with Cryptoprowl.
According to the announcement, the campaign generated roughly six times as many responses as the European Central Bank’s 2021 consultation on the digital euro.
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The group said its supporters are asking Brussels to let regulated stablecoins provide benefits such as cashback, loyalty rewards, and fee reductions under clear rules.
The push comes as European central banks are seeking to expand MiCA’s restrictions on stablecoin returns. In a September 22 response to the Commission’s review, the ECB and other European central banks called for the ban on interest-like benefits from stablecoins to be extended to crypto lending, borrowing, and staking arrangements that can generate indirect returns.
Under MiCA, stablecoin issuers and crypto platforms are generally barred from paying interest on certain regulated stablecoins.
Stand With Crypto EU said more than 126,000 people have separately signed its petition calling for a pro-innovation stablecoin strategy in the EU.
“Tens of thousands of EU citizens took the time to write to the Commission about a single rule, and that doesn’t happen by accident. These are people who use stablecoins, understand what the rewards ban means for them, and want to be heard before the Commission decides what comes next for MiCA,” Harry Pearce-Gould, general manager of Stand With Crypto EU, said.
Stand With Crypto is a crypto advocacy movement launched by Coinbase (NASDAQ: $COIN) in 2023. It has since expanded its advocacy efforts to the UK and Europe.
Stand With Crypto EU lists Boerse Stuttgart Digital, 50 Partners, IOTA, and Morpho, among others, as its partners.