On Thursday 13 November in Brussels, the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) presented its October 2025 report on crypto-assets and systemic risk at the House of the Euro. Francesco Mazzaferro (ESRB Secretariat), Anton van der Kraaij (ECB), and Richard Portes (LBS Professor and ESRB Crypto‑Assets Task Force Co-Chair) outlined the recommendation addressing third-country multi‑issuer stablecoins, tokens jointly issued by EU and non-EU entities that are treated as fungible across jurisdictions.
The ESRB warns these schemes create regulatory gaps, fragmented reserves, and potential runs, which could spill over into banks or disrupt EU financial stability. Its Recommendation urges the European Commission to clarify that such multi-issuer models are incompatible with MiCAR, or impose strict safeguards, including enhanced liquidity, reserve management, and cross-border supervision.
Portes’s VoxEU / CEPR column, Multi‑issuer stablecoins: A threat to financial stability, explains how these arrangements amplify systemic risk, undermine investor protection, and invite regulatory arbitrage. The Brussels presentation builds on earlier LBS coverage of the ESRB report, which highlighted Europe’s move toward macroprudential oversight of crypto-assets.
The event underscores that Europe is now translating academic analysis into concrete policy action, with the fate of multi-issuer stablecoins, cross-border regulation, and crypto-linked bank exposure at stake.
Read more: Major European report on crypto‑asset stability risks