As MiCA takes effect, USDT market cap sees biggest drop since FTX crash

PANews reported on January 2 that according to CoinDesk, TradingView data showed that the market value of USDT fell by nearly 1.1% to US$137.24 billion this week, the largest drop since the collapse of the FTX exchange in the second week of November 2022. In mid-December 2024, the market value of USDT reached a record high of US$140.72 billion.

Previously, several EU-based exchanges and Coinbase decided to delist USDT due to its non-compliance with the requirements of the EU Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, which came into full effect on December 30. USDT is a gateway to the cryptocurrency market and is widely used by investors to fund spot cryptocurrency purchases and derivatives trading. As a result, the delisting and the decline in market value have sparked speculation on social media about a decline in the cryptocurrency market as a whole. However, these concerns may be unfounded and the negative impact may be limited to the eurozone at best.

Karen Tang, head of APAC partnerships at Orderly Network, said: “The EU will restrict access to Tether due to MiCA regulation, but this will not harm USDT’s dominance. The EU is not the largest cryptocurrency market. Most cryptocurrency trading volume occurs in Asia and the United States. All this will only hinder digital asset innovation in the EU.”