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The post Crypto Exchange Kraken Is Going After a Full Banking License in Europe appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Key highlights: Kraken wants to have a bank in Europe This would make it the only crypto exchange with a license in the EU The update comes as MiCA rules become fully enforced The European crypto market is developing fast, and a major exchange has decided to take it up a notch. The Kraken crypto exchange is now pursuing a full banking license in Europe, and Lithuania has been named as the preferred country for securing this approval. The development comes as the European Union is introducing stricter regulations for crypto companies under its Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). Many firms failed to secure this license. For example, Binance, which has started to shut down operations in the region. Meanwhile, some are looking for ways to strengthen their position in the region. Kraken pushes for a banking license Kraken is now actively pushing to conduct banking o
Read full articleFIFA's governance scrutiny could destabilize its crypto partnerships, impacting investor confidence and potentially triggering regulatory actions. The post Trump’s FIFA intervention puts spotlight on the organization’s crypto partnerships with Kraken and Avalanche appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
The post Why Crypto Payments Are Growing Across Europe And How PayFi Platforms Like ConfidoPay Are Accelerating Adoption appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Crypto adoption in Europe has moved past the buy-and-hold phase. For years, the conversation was about acquiring assets and watching prices move. Now people want to actually spend what they’re holding, on subscriptions, travel, everyday purchases, without bouncing between exchanges and bank transfers to get there. The numbers back this up: platforms are quoting that their crypto card orders across Europe have risen by 15% in the first half of 2025. That’s not a massive jump, but it points to real demand for spending tools, not just trading ones. It’s part of what’s fueling the rise of PayFi, the corner of the industry focused on connecting digital assets to real-world payments. At the same time, ConfidoPay, a new PayFi platform is changing the way people spend their crypto directly without having to go through crypto-to-fiat exch
The expansion of MiCA rules could reshape global crypto markets, prompting regulatory alignment and impacting cross-border stablecoin operations. The post European Commission set to expand MiCA rules to tokenization and stablecoins appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
The post AscendEX Halts Operations, Freezes Automated Withdrawals appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Crypto exchange AscendEX ceased operations effective July 1, 2026, and moved all withdrawal requests to manual review starting July 6, according to a notice posted on its website addressed to retail account holders. Crypto exchange AscendEX ceased operations effective July 1, 2026, and moved all withdrawal requests to manual review starting July 6, according to a notice posted on its website addressed to retail account holders. The exchange cited the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), which took full effect July 1 and under which AscendEX holds no authorization, alongside broader “regulatory, financial and operational considerations,” the notice said. Customers can no longer open accounts, deposit, trade, swap, stake or lend on the platform; access is now limited to offboarding tasks such as withdrawal requests, KYC updates and transaction-history exports. Wi
Crypto exchange AscendEX ceased operations effective July 1, 2026, and moved all withdrawal requests to manual review starting July 6, according to a notice posted on its website addressed to retail account holders.
The post AscendEX Exchange Collapse Hands Europe Its First MiCA Test appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) launched its first supervisory sweep of licensed crypto firms on July 8, putting custody resilience under EU-wide review. It comes days after MiCA took full effect and popular crypto exchange AscendEX (formerly BitMax) collapsed. ESMA has not connected the two events. However, the timing hands regulators a live example of what failed crypto custody costs users. ESMA Custody Review Targets Crypto’s Weakest Point In its July 8 release, ESMA said the Common Supervisory Action (CSA) will assess how crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) manage custody risks. National regulators will examine a risk-based sample of authorized firms from late 2026 into early 2027. The exercise targets risks specific to distributed ledger technology (DLT). Reviewers will test governance, key and storage management, transaction controls, incident detecti
Europe is seeing increased demand for crypto payments and digital asset utility. Learn what's driving adoption and how PayFi platforms are helping bridge crypto and commerce.
The post Kraken Arbitration Win Highlights Regulatory Challenges appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Kraken’s parent company just turned years of regulatory frustration into a $22 million arbitration win — and the story behind it exposes just how much damage the Biden-era crackdown on crypto quietly inflicted on the industry. Key takeaways Payward, Kraken’s parent company, won a $22 million arbitration award against auditor Mazars USA after the firm abandoned a nearly complete audit in 2022. Mazars halted the audit just days before completion, citing legal uncertainty including an SEC complaint against Kraken — a complaint later dismissed after Gary Gensler resigned. The arbitrator found that Mazars’ withdrawal created a “licensing crisis” for Kraken, affecting its ability to obtain state money transmitter licenses; $12.5 million of the award relates to Kraken’s acquisition of TradeStation Crypto. Operation Choke Point 2.0 — the Biden administration’s unofficial campaign pressuring ba
