Stablecoin depeg roils markets amid exchange outage and MiCA cutover

Monday 20th October 2025

by inAfrika Newsrooom

A high-profile stablecoin depeg rattled crypto markets after a major exchange outage triggered pricing errors and liquidations, officials and company statements said. Ethena’s USDe briefly printed as low as $0.65 on one venue during the October 10–11 crash before recovering elsewhere, highlighting venue-specific fragilities. Moreover, the incident arrived as EU MiCA stablecoin rules continue to bed in.

Binance said infrastructure strain and an index methodology issue aggravated price dislocations and liquidations. It later announced compensation for affected users within a defined time window, while stressing the broader market sell-off began before the depeg. Analysts said the sequence showed how operational glitches can compound volatility in stressed markets.

Project representatives argued USDe’s core mechanisms held and that pricing remained near $1 on deeper liquidity pools. Consequently, the stablecoin depeg was framed as local to a single venue, not a system-wide failure. Nonetheless, observers urged standardized oracles and cross-venue checks to prevent isolated gaps from cascading.

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework began applying to stablecoins in June 2024, imposing reserve, disclosure and authorization requirements. In addition, the regime phases in full service-provider rules, tightening conduct and prudential standards. Therefore, European desks said MiCA’s cutover will pressure issuers and exchanges to harden controls, audit data and harmonize incident reporting.

Why it matters: A credible stablecoin depeg risk raises funding and settlement costs across DeFi, trading and payments. Clearer standards on reserves, attestations and oracles can reduce basis risk and restore trust after shocks. For corporates and funds using stablecoins for treasury or settlement, reliability determines whether on-chain rails remain investable.

Next, risk teams will scrutinize liquidation engines, cross-margin rules and oracle inputs. Meanwhile, regulators will seek incident timelines and remediation plans. If firms deliver robust fixes, spreads should narrow and liquidity should return. Until then, users may diversify custody and rails to avoid single-venue exposures during stress.