2026-01-04 15:26:28

The EU MiCA regulatory rules coming into effect in June 2024 have triggered a concentrated surge in European stablecoins. By May 2025, the euro stablecoin market size will have doubled, surpassing $500 million, and monthly trading volume will have skyrocketed from $38.3 million to $3.8 billion — this figure reflects not a genuine explosion in demand, but rather a collective response from project teams to compliance policies.

Interestingly, this growth has not been evenly distributed. Liquidity shows a clear concentration, with leading exchanges like Bitvavo and Kraken gradually becoming major trading hubs. This "venue gap" issue has become more prominent — the execution cost differences between different counterparties are widening, and users face significant slippage and fee disparities depending on the exchange they choose. In other words, behind the apparent prosperity lies a market efficiency divergence.

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FloorPriceWatcher

· 01-07 09:42

Numbers look good, but liquidity is all concentrated in top exchanges, retail investors still get slippage cut... True prosperity is still far away; right now, it's just a game of regulatory arbitrage. After the introduction of MiCA, another wave of false prosperity, this routine is all too familiar. 3.8 billion in trading volume sounds impressive, but do you dare to trade on small exchanges? So basically, big exchanges take the meat, small exchanges drink the broth, and the ecosystem is completely unhealthy.

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MetaMaximalist

· 01-06 12:24

ngl the liquidity fragmentation here is exactly what kills "decentralized" narratives... bitvavo and kraken playing gatekeeper while everyone else starves on slippage. classic centralization through regulatory capture, fr

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AirdropHustler

· 01-05 18:11

The issue of liquidity concentration has been evident for a long time. Leading exchanges are eating the big slices while smaller exchanges are getting the leftovers. What else can be done?

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LiquidityWitch

· 01-04 15:54

the liquidity pooling into kraken & bitvavo is basically them casting a binding spell over the whole market... everyone's funneling their euro stablecoins through the same dark pools, slippage's getting cursed af ngl

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RatioHunter

· 01-04 15:53

Numbers look good, but isn't this just the leading exchanges once again benefiting from centralized advantages? Retail investors still get cut.

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ArbitrageBot

· 01-04 15:53

It's a total mess, with liquidity concentrated in top exchanges, and retail investors still getting drained by slippage. A centralized game under the guise of compliance.

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OnChainArchaeologist

· 01-04 15:42

It seems to be that kind of visually appealing but actually hollow situation, just passive growth under compliance pressure. Liquidity is all concentrated in major exchanges, retail investors still have to suffer slippage, this is the reality.

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