126,000 sign petition asking Brussels to ease MiCA stablecoin reward rules

A petition demanding a more favorable European strategy for stablecoins had collected more than 126,000 signatures as of late September, according to data published by Stand With Crypto EU. The campaign runs alongside a parallel mobilization in which the organization said it delivered more than 50,000 individual messages to the European Commission before the MiCA consultation closed on September 30.

The two efforts target the same regulatory pressure point: whether issuers of asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and electronic money tokens (EMTs) should be allowed to offer cashback, fee rebates, loyalty benefits, or a share of reserve-asset yields to holders of MiCA-compliant stablecoins.

Stand With Crypto EU argues that current restrictions disadvantage euro-denominated stablecoins relative to bank deposits and to dollar-pegged rivals operating under lighter frameworks.

What does the industry want changed?

Article 40 of MiCA prohibits asset-referenced token issuers and associated crypto-asset service providers from granting interest on holdings. Article 50 applies an equivalent rule to electronic money tokens, the category that covers most euro stablecoins issued inside the bloc. The regulation reaches further: any remuneration indexed to the duration a user holds a token qualifies as interest under the current text.

Stand With Crypto EU is asking Brussels to clarify that short-term, non-yield rewards — cashback programs, fee discounts, loyalty benefits — fall outside the prohibition. The organization also wants issuers to redistribute part of the yield generated by the reserve assets backing their tokens.

The Commission's consultation, opened in May, ran until September 30 and gathered both individual submissions and the petition signatures cited above.

Why are central banks pushing the other way?

The European System of Central Banks asked the Commission to extend the yield ban to indirect mechanisms tied to lending, borrowing, or staking arrangements. The ECB has separately warned that stablecoin growth can pull deposits out of the supervised banking perimeter and create liquidity stress in stressed market environments.

That posture puts the Frankfurt-based supervisor at odds with an industry lobby that points to recent U.S. legislative changes as evidence that regulated remuneration models are workable. Circle has publicly cited MiCA's effect on its euro-pegged EURC, which has logged increased issuance and redemption activity in 2024 as European market participants adopt the compliant route. The euro stablecoin segment remains a fraction of the dollar stablecoin market in circulation and trading volume.

What happens next in the MiCA review?

The Commission's consultation findings must feed a formal report under Articles 140 and 142 of MiCA. That report can lead, if Brussels decides to act, to a legislative proposal amending or supplementing the regulation. No publication date has been set.

Brussels must balance the 126,000-signature petition and the 50,000 consultation messages against a central-bank position that asks for the opposite outcome. The Commission's response to its consultation will determine whether Articles 40 and 50 stay untouched or reopen before the next legislative window closes. The review arrives as Circle's EURC volumes have grown on the back of MiCA's compliance regime, giving compliant issuers a vested stake in how the rewards question is resolved.