U.S.-UK Cooperation on Stablecoin Regulation (Issue 1 · Week 29, 2026)

01Event Overview

On July 10, 2026, Wisconsin and New York filed criminal charges against Circle for refusing to freeze $380,000 in fraudulent assets, triggering a crisis regarding the compliance of stablecoins. This incident highlighted the intense conflict between the technical architecture of stablecoins and legal obligations, further exacerbating market concerns over regulatory uncertainty. Meanwhile, the transition period for the EU’s MiCA regulations ended on July 1, putting numerous institutions under pressure to comply and facing risks of withdrawals. These regulatory developments have prompted countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom to accelerate discussions on a framework for cross-border regulatory cooperation regarding stablecoins in order to address the growing compliance challenges.

02Course of the incident

• [2026-07-09] Wisconsin and New York State filed criminal charges against Circle for refusing to freeze fraudulent assets, sparking protests and intensifying the conflict between stablecoin technical frameworks and legal obligations.
• [2026-07-10] The EU’s MiCA regulations officially took effect, with rising compliance requirements causing 90% of institutions to withdraw from the market. Circle’s EURC token received approval in France, while on-chain activity and the number of new addresses reached their highest levels in four years.
• [2026-07-13] The 18-month transition period in the EU ended on July 1. The AMLA chairman warned that large-scale withdrawals by customers would put virtual asset service providers under severe anti-money laundering pressures, prompting regulators to enhance analytical capabilities and push for unified standards.

03Impact Analysis

04Impact Analysis

05Market Prices

The stablecoin settlement mechanism is reshaping the pricing logic of underlying assets. The GPU futures launched by CME and ICE, which use stablecoin settlements and on-chain verification, aim to address the issues of volatile computing power prices and the lack of benchmarks, thereby steering computing resources from arbitrary allocation toward a standardized capital market. Demand for compliant stablecoins has risen significantly; after the implementation of the EU’s MiCA regulations, the number of active transactions and new addresses for EURC, issued by Circle, reached four-year highs. However, the market still faces selling pressure—Pump.fun saw its buyback ratio drop sharply from 100% to 50% due to the unlocking of 82.5 billion tokens, raising concerns regarding compliance.

06Regulatory Responses

The regulatory competition between the U.S. and Europe is intensifying, with compliance requirements becoming a dividing line in the industry. The transition period for MiCA in the EU will end on July 1, 2026, and the heightened compliance standards have led to nearly 90% of institutions exiting the market, with Germany establishing a dominant position by issuing 57 licenses. The president of AMLA warned that large-scale withdrawals by customers could place virtual asset service providers under severe anti-money laundering pressures, prompting regulators to enhance their analytical capabilities and push for unified mechanisms. In the U.S., Wisconsin and New York State have filed criminal charges against Circle for failing to freeze fraudulent assets, sparking intense debates over the technical architecture of stablecoins and their legal obligations. AscendEX will cease operations on July 1, 2026, as it fails to meet MiCA standards, leaving users at risk of manual audits and frozen funds.

07Ecological Impacts

Institutions are accelerating their adoption of compliant infrastructure, driving the industry toward institutionalization. Vanguard plans to integrate its $12 trillion in asset management assets into tokenization and stablecoin-based infrastructure, thereby reshaping industry rules. Japan is building a zaibatsu-style compliant ecosystem, with SBI investing nearly $500 million to develop full-chain solutions, while Lawson is piloting stablecoin payments. Metaplanet and Progmat are combining Bitcoin, stablecoins, and tokenized securities to create an efficient and transparent credit market infrastructure. LayerZero and Centrifuge are using a hub-and-spoke model to resolve the conflicts between compliance and speed in the $33 billion tokenized RWA market. Giants are taking advantage of low prices during bear markets to acquire licensed institutions, with companies like Samsung and Figure accelerating the institutionalization of crypto infrastructure.

08Subsequent focus areas

Key Monitoring Points

1. Regulatory Coordination and Enforcement Trends between the US and Europe
   Closely track policy interactions between the United States and the European Union in the area of stablecoin compliance. Pay special attention to the subsequent judicial developments in the case where Circle faced criminal charges from Wisconsin and New York for refusing to freeze fraudulent assets. Additionally, monitor how anti-money laundering authorities implement stress tests and unified frameworks for virtual asset service providers after the transition period under the EU’s MiCA ends on July 1, 2026. Any conflicts between transatlantic regulatory standards or significant enforcement rulings could directly reshape the cooperation framework for stablecoins between the US and the UK.

2. Market Penetration Rate of Compliant Stablecoins
   Monitor the on-chain activity and user growth of compliant stablecoins. Taking Circle’s EURC as an example, its on-chain activity and number of new addresses have reached new highs in four years. It is essential to continuously observe the actual adoption rate of such compliant products in payment scenarios. If the average daily trading volume or number of new addresses for major compliant stablecoins declines for two consecutive weeks, it may indicate that market confidence is being undermined by compliance costs.

3. Progress of Institutional Capital Integration
   Track the actual progress of traditional asset management giants integrating into cryptocurrency infrastructure. Vanguard plans to connect its $12 trillion in managed assets to tokenization and stablecoin-related infrastructure. The specific implementation timeline, types of assets to be integrated first, and custody solutions are key considerations. If leading institutions pause or reduce their integration efforts due to compliance issues, it could affect the liquidity foundation of stablecoins as institutional settlement tools.

4. Compliance Risk Incidents Related to Infrastructure
   Beware of platform closures and user withdrawals caused by failure to meet compliance standards. Drawing on the case of AscendEX, which was shut down and suspended automatic withdrawals on July 1, 2026, for failing to comply with MiCA requirements, it is necessary to monitor the compliance improvement progress of other major service providers. If similar incidents of delayed large-scale withdrawals or fund freezes occur, involving amounts exceeding 10% of the platform’s net assets, it could trigger a systemic trust crisis.

09Related Reads

1. “拒冻38万遭刑事指控，稳定币合规危机爆发”
2. “MiCA过渡期终结：用户挤兑引爆合规危机”
3. “MiCA生效引爆合规潮：EURC链上数据创四年新高”
4. “算力期货时代：CME与ICE如何重塑万亿级GPU市场”
5. “日收百万难敌解锁抛压，PUMP回购缩水引合规隐忧”
6. “MiCA收官仅12%存活：德国凭57家牌照领跑”
7. “合规失败致关停：AscendEX提现陷人工审核泥潭”
8. “资管巨头逆转：12万亿规模接入加密基建”
9. “首相连任站台、SBI砸5亿、罗森开闸：日本抢跑合规红利”
10. “Metaplanet与Progmat合作研究数字信贷”
11. “330亿RWA市场：LayerZero与Centrifuge破解合规速度悖论”
12. “估值腰斩九成：巨头借熊市狂扫合规牌照”