ESMA Launches First Coordinated Crypto Custody Review Under MiCA

OSL's MiCA authorization highlights the increasing regulatory hurdles in the EU, potentially limiting market competition and impacting service costs. The post OSL Group secures MiCA authorization in Austria for crypto services across Europe appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

The post Alfa-Bank Enters Crypto Custody Race As Russia’s Largest Private Bank Prepares For New Legislation appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. While large U.S. banks are lobbying to water down a landmark crypto bill days before a Senate vote, Russia’s biggest private bank is racing into digital assets. Alfa-Bank announced plans to become a regulated digital asset custodian and offer crypto-related services to both retail and institutional clients, according to the original report from WuBlockchain. The move marks a sharp institutional turn at a moment when Russian authorities are rewriting the legal framework for crypto. The bank intends to develop investment products built on public blockchains, aiming to attract international investors. The timing is no coincidence: the services will move forward only after Russia’s new cryptocurrency legislation takes effect. Details of that law remain closely watched by market participants inside and outside Russia, because it will define the bou

The post AscendEX Shuts Down as User Balance Payouts Remain Uncertain appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. AscendEX shut down after MiCA pressure, weak liquidity, and failed funding left operations unsustainable. Users face delayed manual withdrawals, with the exchange unable to guarantee full balance recovery. ZachXBT had flagged nearly empty hot wallets before the shutdown, including ETH, USDT, USDC, and SOL. The closure revives custody concerns after AscendEX’s 2021 breach, which caused about $78M in losses. AscendEX has shut down after regulatory, financial, and operational pressures pushed the crypto exchange into a controlled offboarding process. The platform ceased operations on July 1, then published a notice on July 6 explaining the decision. JUST IN: ASCENDEX SHUTS DOWN AND USERS MAY NOT GET FULL BALANCES BACK Crypto exchange AscendEX has ceased operations on July 1, citing MiCA, regulatory, financial and operational pressure. The company’s statement indicated that current li

The post AscendEX Shutdown Sparks Fresh Fears Over Customer Withdrawals  appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. AscendEX halted operations as manual withdrawal reviews left customers uncertain about accessing their funds.  ZachXBT questioned AscendEX’s liquidity, saying its hot wallets may not cover verified customer claims.  AscendEX blamed financial strain and MiCA as its closure renewed concerns over exchange stability. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT raised fresh concerns after crypto exchange AscendEX announced it would shut down, leaving customers uncertain about whether they will be able to withdraw their funds.  In a Telegam post, he said users with money still on the platform could face challenges getting it back, claiming the exchange’s publicly known hot wallets do not appear to hold enough liquid assets to cover verified multi-million-dollar customer claims. “AscendEX admits in its announcement withdrawals may or may not be processed,” ZachXBT wrote. He urged affected users t

The post MiCA Wiped Out 92% of Europe’s Crypto Firms: Here’s Who Survived and Who’s Cashing In appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. The MiCA transition period ended on July 1, 2026, and the damage is now measurable. This wasn’t a soft compliance nudge — it was a mass extinction event that redrew the entire European crypto map in a single day. While the market obsessed over price charts, the more consequential story is who’s still legally allowed to operate on the continent, and who just quietly disappeared. Advertisement How many crypto firms actually survived MiCA? The numbers are brutal. Public mirrors of the bloc’s register counted 244 licensed CASPs across 25 jurisdictions once the deadline passed. Before MiCA, roughly 3,167 firms held national crypto registrations across Europe. Measured against that base, close to 92% of the market did not make the cut. Framed against the pre-MiCA legacy pool, only 210 of 1,200+ EU crypto firms converted to MiCA authorization. The other 83% are n

The post Binance Seeks New Crypto Licenses After MiCA Shift appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Binance is in talks with regulators that have invited the exchange to apply for crypto licenses following its withdrawal from the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) application in Greece, according to co-CEO Richard Teng. Teng said at the Reuters NEXT Asia conference in Singapore on Thursday that the discussions are still “premature” and declined to identify the jurisdictions.  MiCA created a single licensing framework for crypto firms across the European Union. After the bloc’s transition period expired on July 1, the European Securities and Markets Authority said crypto firms must serve EU clients through a MiCA-authorized entity, with limited exceptions for unsolicited cross-border business. Binance withdrew its application for a MiCA license in Greece on June 24, after reports surfaced that Greek regulators were planning to reject the exchange’s licensing bid. “It caught us by s

Binance is exploring new licensing paths into Europe while continuing to expand its regulatory footprint in Asia, says co-CEO Richard Teng.

The post AscendEX shuts down, says users may not recover full crypto balances appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. AscendEX has shut down operations after citing regulatory requirements under the European Union’s MiCA framework and mounting financial difficulties, while warning that some customers may not recover their full crypto balances. Summary AscendEX has shut down operations, citing MiCA compliance requirements and financial difficulties. The exchange warned users that withdrawals will be reviewed manually and full account balances may not be recoverable. The closure follows weeks of withdrawal complaints after ZachXBT raised concerns about delayed withdrawals and the exchange’s visible hot wallet reserves. According to a notice published by the cryptocurrency exchange on July 6, AscendEX ceased operations on July 1 after the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation came fully into force in the European Union, where the platform does not hold the required authorization. The ex