Circle and Hyperliquid Take Aim at MiCA as EU Review Closes

Circle and Hyperliquid group file EU MiCA submissions

The European Commission opened its review of the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) on 20 May 2026 and extended the feedback deadline to 30 September 2026. Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, and the Hyperliquid Policy Center (HPC) both filed positions before the close. MiCA is the European Union rulebook for crypto-assets, passed in 2023. The HPC is a Washington-based advocacy group funded by the Hyperliquid Foundation, and this was its first filing outside the United States. Earlier coverage: ECB Warns Stablecoin Deposit Rule Could Backfire on Europe's Banks →.

Circle opposes MiCA's bank deposit rule for reserves

Circle targets MiCA's bank deposit floor. The rule requires issuers of electronic money tokens (EMTs) to hold at least 30% to 60% of their reserves in commercial bank deposits, with the higher figure applied to tokens the European Banking Authority (EBA) classifies as "significant". Circle argues the mandate raises its exposure to the credit and counterparty risk of the banking sector. Circle, which has operated in the EU through a French entity since July 2024, describes itself as the largest EMT issuer under MiCA. The company pointed to March 2023, when USDC briefly lost its $1 peg after Circle disclosed that $3.3 billion of its roughly $40 billion in reserves sat at Silicon Valley Bank, which then failed.

"[The bank deposit requirement] increases exposure to the credit and counterparty risk of the banking sector", September 2026. — Circle, MiCA review submission to the European Commission

Hyperliquid group wants perps under MiFID II

The HPC asked the Commission to treat perpetual futures under MiFID II, the EU's existing framework for financial instruments, rather than under MiCA. Perpetual futures are derivatives that track an asset's price with no expiry date. The group argued that classification "should follow the economic features of an instrument", not the technology behind it. It added that perpetual futures differ from contracts for difference because, on these order books, the trading venue "isn't itself the counterparty". The group also asked the Commission to require trading venues to publish their funding methodologies, maintenance margins and liquidation thresholds in advance. The HPC said on-chain markets built on its HIP-3 standard reached 75% of Hyperliquid's volume in late July 2026 before falling to roughly 25% recently.

HYPE and USDC prices at publication time

HYPE, the Hyperliquid token, traded at $89.30 at the time of publication, down 3.0% over the past seven days (CoinPaprika, 2 October 2026). Its market value stood near $19.9 billion. USDC traded at $1.00 with a market capitalisation of about $74 billion (CoinPaprika, 2 October 2026). The Hyperliquid Foundation funded the HPC with 1 million HYPE, valued at about $29 million in February 2026.

The review may lead to amended EU crypto rules

Circle was not alone on stablecoin reserves. The European Central Bank (ECB) also urged the Commission to scrap the deposit minimums, proposing liquidity maturity requirements instead. Circle added that, by its count, only three of the top 25 stablecoinsREAD → by market capitalisation are MiCA-regulated: USDC, USDG and EURC. Circle also argued that restricting multi-issuance of stablecoins would relocate that activity outside the EU's regulatory perimeter. The Commission plans to use the consultation responses in a report on how MiCA is working, which may be accompanied by a proposal to amend the regulation.

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