UniCredit warns Europe may struggle to contain crypto-bank crisis under MiCA rules

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email UniCredit warns Europe may struggle to contain crypto-bank crisis under MiCA rules EU deposit insurance (up to €100,000) may not absorb stress from large stablecoin reserve accounts, unlike the full protection offered by U.S. regulators. By Francisco Rodrigues | Edited by Nikhilesh De May 28, 2026, 4:50 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on What to know : Europe lacks crisis tools used by the U.S. to contain crypto-bank shocks, raising concerns about its ability to handle future financial turmoil. EU deposit insurance (up to €100,000) may not absorb stress from large stablecoin reserve accounts, unlike the full protection offered by U.S. regulators. MiCA forces stablecoin providers to align with banks, but without extended deposit insurance, creating a "double weakness" in the European financial system. Europe may struggle to contain a financial shock tied to crypto firms and banks because its crisis tools are more limited than those used in the U.S. during the 2023 banking turmoil, a senior official with European bank UniCredit said Thursday. Elena Carletti, UniCredit’s deputy vice chair and head of the board’s risk committee, said European authorities may not be able to guarantee crypto-linked deposits in the same way U.S. regulators did after the collapses of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, Reuters reported . Speaking at a banking conference hosted by Madrid’s IESE Business School, Carletti said the U.S. decision to protect all deposits, including funds held by stablecoin issuers, helped stabilize crypto markets during the crisis. “The same decision cannot be easily taken in Europe,” Carletti said. The comments come as the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA , pushes stablecoin issuers closer to traditional banks. The rules require certain stablecoin reserves to be held in liquid assets such as bank deposits and government securities. That link could have become a problem during the Silicon Valley Bank collapse in March 2023. Circle, issuer of the USDC stablecoin, revealed that $3.3 billion of its reserves were held at the bank at the time of the crisis. USDC briefly lost its dollar peg as investors rushed to redeem tokens. U.S. regulators later guaranteed all deposits at SVB and Signature Bank, including balances above federal insurance limits, helping restore confidence in crypto markets. Carletti warned that Europe’s deposit guarantee system, which generally protects up to 100,000 euros ($116,500) per depositor per bank, may not be able to absorb similar stress if large stablecoin reserve accounts come under pressure. "That means that we are forcing a certain alliance of stablecoin and ⁠crypto ​providers with the banking sector without the ​possibility of extending insurance in the same way, and that to me is a double ​form of weakness," she added. Regulation Stablecoins More For You Toddlers learn by falling: Why DeFi's $20 billion TVL drop is just a market stress-test By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Jamie Crawley 17 minutes ago DeFi Technologies president Andrew Forson says the stablecoin layer is thriving, with more than $150 billion in U.S. Treasuries backing coins like USDT and USDC. What to know : Despite high-profile hacks and a $20 billion drop in total value locked, DeFi advocates argue that critics are overstating security risks and ignoring the sector’s broader growth. DeFi Technologies president Andrew Forson says the stablecoin layer is thriving, with more than $150 billion in U.S. Treasuries backing coins like USDT... Read full story Latest Crypto News Toddlers learn by falling: Why DeFi's $20 billion TVL drop is just a market stress-test 17 minutes ago Sui blockchain suffers another network outage as transactions grind to a halt 39 minutes ago Bitcoin pinned below $73,000 despite potential U.S.-Iran deal news 1 hour ago A blockchain lottery plans to turn crypto gambling fees into Ethereum developer funding 1 hour ago Crypto Long & Short: Asia’s regulated crypto future 1 hour ago Disciplined AI agents are the disruptor needed to break the exchange churn model 2 hours ago Top Stories Asset manager Grayscale delays IPO plans as crypto listing boom loses steam 3 hours ago What's next as hot money cycle has gone from crypto to gold to AI to memory 3 hours ago 'Debasement trade’ falls out of favor as inflation fears cool, JPMorgan says 3 hours ago Bitcoin drops below $73,000 as U.S. strikes on Iran spark $1 billion liquidations 12 hours ago White House reviews CFTC prediction-market rule as Trump backs federal control 7 hours ago Samsung units to buy $408 million stake in South Korea’s biggest crypto exchange 5 hours ago