TLDR A citizen advocacy campaign delivered more than 50,000 letters to the European Commission calling for permission to offer stablecoin rewards. Stand With Crypto EU spearheaded the effort,
Tens of thousands of European residents contacted the European Commission this week through a coordinated letter-writing campaign. Their goal: convince policymakers to revise restrictions that currently prevent stablecoin providers from compensating users with various forms of rewards.
NEW: 50,000+ Europeans are pushing back on strict stablecoin rules.
They want MiCA changed so regulated stablecoins can offer cashback, loyalty perks and fee discounts.
Europe’s stablecoin rules are already facing pressure from users. pic.twitter.com/FLmpupN3vF
— CryptosRus (@CryptosR_Us) October 2, 2026
The coordinated outreach formed part of a broader public consultation examining the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation—commonly referred to as MiCA. Officials closed the consultation window on September 30.
Stand With Crypto EU, an advocacy organization focused on digital asset policy, orchestrated the grassroots initiative. The organization disclosed the campaign’s scope through a Thursday press statement.
The current MiCA framework explicitly bars stablecoin issuers from distributing interest payments to token holders. This prohibition extends to additional benefits such as cashback programs or loyalty reward systems.
According to Stand With Crypto EU, this creates an uneven playing field. Traditional banking products and electronic money services face no such limitations when structuring customer incentive programs.
The advocacy group is urging the Commission to address this disparity during its regulatory review process. Their proposal calls for allowing regulated stablecoin companies to provide cashback offers, loyalty incentives, and fee discounts within a transparent regulatory structure.
Harry Pearce-Gould serves as general manager of Stand With Crypto EU. He characterized the campaign’s response rate as evidence of genuine grassroots interest.
“These are people who use stablecoins, understand what the rewards ban means for them, and want to be heard before the Commission decides what comes next for MiCA,” he said.
The initiative generated significantly higher participation than previous European cryptocurrency consultations. The letter volume represented approximately six times the number of submissions the European Central Bank received for its 2021 digital euro consultation.
The response also dwarfed the 198 submissions filed during the Commission’s initial 2020 consultation on cryptocurrency regulation.
Even as digital asset users lobby for regulatory flexibility, Europe’s central banking system is recommending the opposite approach.
The European System of Central Banks submitted its own formal response to the MiCA review on September 22. Their submission requested that the Commission broaden the existing prohibition on stablecoin interest payments.
Specifically, they want the ban expanded to encompass crypto lending platforms, borrowing services, and staking mechanisms. These financial products can deliver indirect yield to stablecoin holders through structures that resemble traditional interest.
The central banks additionally expressed concerns regarding reserve asset management practices. They suggested replacing current regulations—which mandate that issuers maintain a designated percentage of reserves in bank deposits—with alternative liquidity standards.
Their rationale centers on financial stability risks. They argue that a rapid stablecoin redemption wave could compel issuers to withdraw deposits from banks at speed, potentially destabilizing those financial institutions.
The European Central Bank has articulated similar warnings previously. In June, the institution highlighted the timing mismatch between stablecoin transactions, which can occur instantaneously, and the settlement periods required for the underlying reserve assets.
ECB President Christine Lagarde addressed these dynamics in a May statement. She cautioned that capital flows from traditional bank accounts into stablecoin holdings could diminish the lending capacity of European banks.
In addition to the letter campaign, Stand With Crypto EU reports that more than 126,000 individuals have endorsed a separate petition. That petition advocates for a comprehensive shift toward more accommodating stablecoin policies throughout the European Union.
The organization identifies multiple cryptocurrency and financial services companies as collaborating partners, including Boerse Stuttgart Digital and IOTA. Stand With Crypto was originally established by Coinbase in 2023 and has subsequently expanded its operations to encompass the United Kingdom and continental Europe.
The European Commission has not announced a timeline for releasing findings from its MiCA review or introducing potential regulatory amendments.
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