Crypto Exchange OKX to Pull Tether Trading Pairs in Europe

Crypto exchange OKX is ending its support of digital currencies traded against Tether Holdings Ltd's USDT token for users based in the European Economic Area.

USDT related deposits and withdrawals, and over-the-counter transactions remain available for OKX's users in the region, according to a spokesperson for OKX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges by trading volume. A trading pair of USDT — the largest stablecoin by market value — denominated in euro remains available as well.

"This year our focus is to expand euro pair liquidity and become the preferred venue for euro to crypto spot trading," the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "We evaluated this decision and delisting the current USDT pairs only impacts a small subset of our user base."

Stablecoins like USDT are key parts of the crypto sector where investors often park funds to use in trading. They are meant to hold a steady value, typically $1, and are often backed by reserves like cash and bonds. Regulators have stepped up scrutiny of stablecoins over concerns about the risks they can pose.

Last year, OKX and Tether collaborated with the US Justice Department to track an organized network of scammers, in which the US government seized almost $9 million worth of USDT. Data from tracker CoinGecko shows that the total USDT in circulation surpassed $100 billion.

(Source: Bloomberg)