What is Tether (USDT)? What backs the stablecoin and where MiCA limits it

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry a high degree of risk. Always conduct your own research.With 182.8 billion tokens in circulation, Tether is the largest stablecoin in the world and settles two out of every three crypto dollars traded. In the EU it lacks authorisation as an e-money token, and from January 8, 2027 authorised providers may no longer offer services around it.Tether is the largest stablecoin in the world: a token called USDT that is meant to track the value of one US dollar and is issued by a private company. On October 22, 2026, according to CoinGecko, around 182.8 billion USDT were in circulation, worth $182.7 billion in total. That puts Tether third in the crypto market behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. For investors in Germany, though, the position shifted in the autumn of 2026. USDT holds no authorisation as an e-money token in the European Union, and the supervisors are drawing conclusions from that. What Tether is, what the dollar peg is supposed to be backed by, and what applies on authorised venues from January 2027 is set out in this article. What T...