How MiCA is Reshaping Stablecoin Liquidity in Europe

Chiara Munaretto sits down with Christian Niederlueller, COO at KuCoin EU, at the Bluechip Crypto Safety Conference 2025 in Vienna to explore how Europe's MiCA regulation is transforming stablecoin trading and liquidity. With KuCoin EU in the final stages of their MiCA application, Christian reveals the strategic decision to launch as a broker rather than a full exchange, why Austria's favorable tax regime is driving institutional stablecoin adoption, and how the Travel Rule infrastructure is making on-chain money movement faster and more compliant than traditional banking.

This conversation unpacks the critical distinctions between e-money tokens (single currency backing) and asset reference tokens (multiple currencies or assets), why Austrian tax law incentivizes holding stablecoins instead of cashing out to euros, the regulatory expertise Austria built through BitPanda's 10+ year presence, and why Christian expects major stablecoin consolidation despite the explosion of new launches. He also discusses KuCoin's strategy for listing Euro stablecoins in 2026 to facilitate settlements with KuCoin Global and other liquidity providers, plus why the broker model under MiCA offers better execution than building parallel order books.

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction: KuCoin EU and MiCA application progress
01:21 - Stablecoins as the engine of global exchange activity
02:30 - Retail vs institutional stablecoin trading in Europe
03:02 - Austrian tax advantage: No capital gains tax while staying in digital assets
04:00 - KuCoin Card and KuCoin Pay for stablecoin payments
05:07 - Travel Rule and Transfer Funds Regulation explained
06:15 - What drives KuCoin's stablecoin listing decisions
07:35 - Broker model vs exchange model under MiCA
09:24 - The MiCA application experience with Austrian regulators
10:30 - Why regulator expertise varies across EU countries despite MiCA harmonization
11:14 - Treasury management and operational liquidity with stablecoins
12:20 - Stablecoin infrastructure funding explosion over last 1.5 years
13:28 - Too many stablecoins: Consolidation vs niche specialization
14:57 - E-money tokens vs asset reference tokens: The critical MiCA distinction
16:20 - 2026 pipeline: Euro stablecoin listings and European ecosystem focus

About KuCoin EU:
KuCoin EU is the European entity of global exchange KuCoin, currently in final stages of MiCA licensing in Austria. Operating as a broker rather than full exchange, KuCoin EU sources liquidity from global order books to provide best execution for European customers. The platform supports major stablecoins (USDT, USDC, PayPal USD) and plans to list Euro stablecoins in 2026 for enhanced European ecosystem integration and settlement efficiency with KuCoin Global and other liquidity providers.

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or legal advice.