“Tether’s General Counsel Stuart Hoegner Announces Retirement”
Update: Stuart Hoegner’s Retirement and Tether’s Compliance with MiCA
Stuart Hoegner’s Retirement as General Counsel of Tether and Bitfinex
As we reported earlier, Stuart Hoegner has retired from his role as the general counsel of Tether and Bitfinex. This development comes amidst the implementation of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations in Europe, which officially took effect on December 30.
According to a statement shared with Cointelegraph by Tether, Hoegner will be replaced by Michael Hilliard, who has been working alongside Hoegner for several years. The firm praised Hilliard’s deep understanding of both companies’ operations and his strategic approach to legal and regulatory challenges.
Uncertainty Surrounding USDT Compliance in the EU
The change in legal leadership for Tether comes at a time when there is still uncertainty surrounding the compliance of its USDT stablecoin with MiCA. The regulations have left stablecoin issuers like Tether in limbo, as they are not explicitly clear on whether USDT complies with the new EU crypto framework.
"No regulators have explicitly stated that USDT isn’t compliant, but this does not mean that it is," said Juan Ignacio Ibañez, a member of the Technical Committee of the MiCA Crypto Alliance. This statement highlights the lack of clarity surrounding Tether’s legal status in Europe.
ESMA’s Response to Queries on USDT Compliance
In October 2024, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) declined to tell Cointelegraph whether USDT was seen as a restricted stablecoin under MiCA. A spokesperson at ESMA then said that the regulator was working with market participants and other stakeholders to address stablecoin-related issues presented in MiCA.
Coinbase’s Decision to Delist USDT
Despite the uncertainty surrounding Tether’s compliance, Coinbase delisted USDT in mid-December, citing compliance with MiCA. However, this decision has not affected the trading of USDT across the EU, as many exchanges still await further clarity from European authorities on USDT’s compliance.
Tether’s Market Cap Falls
The uncertainty surrounding Tether’s compliance and Coinbase’s decision to delist USDT have led to a significant fall in the market cap of USDT. According to CoinGecko data, the market cap of USDT fell from $138.8 billion on December 30, 2024, to a weekly low of $136.9 billion on January 1.
This marked the largest dip in USDT’s market cap since the FTX collapse in November 2022. However, it is worth noting that Tether’s current market cap of $137.2 billion is still 2.75% off its all-time high of $141 billion set on December 20, 2024.
USDT Dominance Remains Above 65%
Despite the fall in USDT’s market cap, it remains the largest stablecoin in terms of market capitalization, with a dominance rate above 65%. The total market capitalization of all stablecoins has also grown to over $210 billion.
Tether’s Move into Bitcoin
On December 30, Tether moved almost $780 million worth of Bitcoin into its corporate Bitcoin reserve. This was the largest move since March and marked an effort by Tether to increase its allocation of Bitcoin.
In May 2023, Tether had announced that it planned to "regularly allocate up to 15% of its net realized operating profits toward purchasing Bitcoin."
