UniCredit warns Europe faces crypto bank crisis

UniCredit director Elena Carletti has warned Europe may struggle to contain a crypto bank crisis under MiCA rules.

UniCredit deputy vice chair Elena Carletti has warned that Europe may struggle to contain a crypto-linked banking shock under MiCA. The Italian bank executive said EU tools are weaker than the US emergency response of 2023.

The comments land as MiCA pulls stablecoin issuers closer to traditional lenders. Carletti, who chairs UniCredit’s board risk committee, said at an IESE Business School conference in Madrid that the same systemic-risk exception used to guarantee all SVB and Signature deposits “cannot be easily taken in Europe.”

Why MiCA creates a “double weakness”

MiCA requires stablecoin issuers, classified as electronic money tokens, to hold reserves in liquid assets including bank deposits and government securities. That ties stablecoin stability directly to bank balance sheets.

The link became visible during the March 2023 SVB collapse. Circle, issuer of USDC, disclosed $3.3 billion of reserves stuck at the failed bank, and the stablecoin briefly lost its dollar peg before US regulators guaranteed all deposits.

“The coverage and protection … was given to all deposits, including stablecoin companies, and that also allowed to maintain the stability of the stablecoin,” Carletti said. EU deposit insurance, capped at €100,000, cannot absorb stress from large stablecoin reserve accounts the same way.

What it means for Europe’s stablecoin push

Carletti’s warning comes as European banks lean further into stablecoins. UniCredit itself is a founding member of Qivalis, the consortium planning a MiCA-compliant euro stablecoin for launch in the second half of 2026.

Italy’s Banca Sella, another Qivalis founder, recently won Bank of Italy approval to offer crypto custody and transfer services under MiCA’s notification route for credit institutions. The full MiCA rollout tightens supervision of CASPs, stablecoin issuers and DeFi front-ends by July 2026.

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has previously argued MiCA’s 60% uninsured cash reserve requirement could itself trigger systemic risk, echoing Carletti’s concern from the issuer side.