MiCA licensing only the beginning as crypto custodians face scrutiny

The post EURC On-Chain Activity Hits All-Time High As MiCA Drives Euro Stablecoin Demand appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Circle’s EURC stablecoin just printed its busiest day on-chain in the asset’s four-year history. Both daily active addresses and new wallet creation exploded to record levels, according to the on-chain update from Santiment. The sudden burst of usage is not noise. It aligns with a structural shift as European exchanges, apps, and payment teams hunt for compliant alternatives under the continent’s new crypto rulebook. A Sudden Spike in Euro Coin Usage Active addresses and network growth are two of the bluntest tools for measuring real adoption. A simultaneous surge in both suggests fresh capital and new participants—not just existing holders shuffling tokens. EURC’s daily active addresses vaulted to an all-time high, and the number of new wallets entering the network did the same. That dual breakout rarely happens by accident. The timing is critical. For years, d

The post AscendEX shuts down after MiCA miss and warns some withdrawals may not be processed appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. AscendEX shut down on July 1, leaving some customers unsure whether they will recover their funds. The exchange said in a July 6 notice that it does not hold authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework. It also cited financial and operational pressures, including a failed strategic transaction expected to provide liquidity. Customers can no longer use AscendEX to open accounts, deposit funds, trade, swap, stake or lend. They should retain access only to withdraw assets and complete other exit steps, provided the platform remains available, and no legal or insolvency restrictions intervene. Related Reading Millions of EU crypto users face exchange cutoff as MiCA deadline hits in days Around three in four of the crypto companies registered across Europe are expected to lose their license this summer in the most aggressive thinni

The post European Blockchain Convention Returns to Barcelona for Europe’s First Post-MiCA Gathering appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Barcelona, Spain,  July,  2026 — Eleven weeks after the European Union’s MiCA deadline, the 12th edition of the European Blockchain Convention (EBC12) returns to Barcelona at a pivotal moment for the industry. It is the region’s first major institutional gathering since the world’s first comprehensive cross-border digital asset regulation became fully law, and the event where European deal flow happens. MiCA is now fully in force. For European markets, the focus shifts to what comes next: CASP licensing, stablecoin issuance, and the role of CBDCs in cross-border settlement. EBC12 is where that conversation takes place. Rather than chasing mandates city by city across London, Paris, Frankfurt, Zurich, and Barcelona, EBC12 compresses the European digital asset market into a single two-day commercial arena. It takes place on 16–17 September 2026 at the P

The post Crypto Biz: USDT vs USDC Roles Diverge as Euro Stablecoins Grow Under MiCA appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Crypto’s infrastructure is starting to look a lot more like traditional finance. New data from Dune shows that the world’s stablecoin leaders — Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC — are no longer competing for the same users, with each now dominating a different corner of the market. Meanwhile, demand for MiCA-compliant euro stablecoins is accelerating, hinting that the stablecoin economy is slowly expanding beyond the US dollar. Elsewhere in Crypto Biz, Strategy reignited debate over its “never sell” philosophy after offloading more than $200 million in Bitcoin (BTC) to fund shareholder dividends, while Vanguard signaled that even Wall Street’s biggest crypto skeptics are embracing tokenization. USDT, USDC use cases diverge as stablecoins become chain-specific USDT has become crypto’s dominant payments stablecoin while USDC has cemented itself as DeFi’s preferred settle

Digital Services Act may force Meta to make big changes on its platforms.

The post Binance EU withdrawals reveal MiCA regulation impact appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. When Binance pulled its MiCA license application in Greece and suspended EU services ahead of the July 1 regulatory deadline, European regulators may have expected users to migrate toward licensed, compliant crypto platforms. The data on Binance EU withdrawals tells a different story — and it raises uncomfortable questions about what MiCA is actually achieving on the ground. Key takeaways 70% of EU user funds withdrawn from Binance after the service suspension moved to self-custodied wallets, outside any regulatory oversight. Only 30% of withdrawn funds transferred to licensed, MiCA-regulated crypto platforms. Binance co-CEO Richard Teng argued this pattern raises serious questions about whether MiCA reduces user risk or inadvertently amplifies it. Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece due to approval delays, with founder Changpeng Zhao citing “political forces” as a factor. Des

The post Europe’s Crypto Law Is Driving Users Away From Regulation, Not Toward It appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. 70% of EU users who left Binance after MiCA opted for self-custody, not a rival. Teng warned self-hosted wallets amplify risk as AML and KYC controls are absent. Binance pulled its Greek MiCA licence and paused EU deposits on 1 July 2026. Europe’s landmark crypto regulation is producing an outcome its architects did not intend. Rather than driving users toward regulated platforms, MiCA appears to be pushing them in the opposite direction. Binance CEO Richard Teng revealed that of the users who withdrew funds from Binance after MiCA came into effect, 70% moved their assets into self-hosted wallets, while only 30% shifted to other regulated platforms. The data suggests the regulation is consolidating crypto activity outside the supervised financial system rather than within it. “Once it goes into a self-hosted wallet, the risks actually amplify,” Teng said. “You don’t ha

The post MiCA Approval Is Not the Finish Line for Crypto Custodians appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com. Getting licensed under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework is only the beginning for crypto custodians, as regulators turn their attention from authorization to operational resilience. The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on Wednesday launched a Common Supervisory Action (CSA) to examine the operational resilience of crypto asset service providers (CASPs), placing custody services at the center of the review. “The signal is quite clear: for custodians, a licence is the start line, not the finish,” Sebastien Dessimoz, co-founder and managing partner at digital asset infrastructure firm Taurus, told Cointelegraph. The review comes shortly after MiCA’s transitional period expired, marking one of the first major supervisory exercises under the EU’s new crypto framework. From claiming security to proving it The ESMA told Cointelegraph