VanEck has introduced staking for its Solana Exchange Traded Note (ETN) in Europe, which currently has assets under management (AUM) totaling $73 million. The Solana ETN, which trades under the ticker VSOL, will now enable investors to benefit from staking rewards that will be accrued and reinvested daily. A Non-Custodial Staking Model The announcement was...Read More
In a post on X on Oct. 20, adviser to the Senior Management of the Market Infrastructure and payments business area of the ECB, Jürgen Schaaf, labeled Bitcoin “a speculative bubble that will eventually burst.” He claimed that this would leave behind “substantial social damage amid its high energy use and facilitating illicit payments.” The...Read More
Robinhood Markets’ crypto subsidiary is expanding its cryptocurrency offerings in the EU by enabling customers the ability to deposit and withdraw more than 20 different digital assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), USD Coin (USDC). Robinhood debuted its crypto trading service in the EU in December of last year. While users could buy...Read More
On June 25, the ECB published an update on its two-year preparation phase for the digital Euro CBDC that ends in October 2025. The central bank said that privacy and data protection are its top priorities, but there are a number of disturbing features to the currency that would result in the total opposite. On...Read More
A popular New York-based crypto exchange, Uphold, announced the delisting of six stablecoins in response to the upcoming MiCA regulation in the European Union, including Tether (USDT) – the largest of the cohort. This decision aligns with the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, which fully takes effect on June 30th, 2024. Passed into law...Read More
A digital Euro CBDC will be “designed for making payments, not for investment,” explained Ulrich Bindseil, Jürgen Schaaf, and Executive Board member Piero Cipollone in a blog post on Feb. 19. They added that many banks worry their customers might withdraw deposits to hold digital Euros instead. “These fears are misplaced,” they stated. The ECB...Read More
Last year, the European Union unanimously voted for the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill, considered by most to be the first comprehensive piece of legislation addressing the crypto industry as a whole. MiCA is, in itself, part of a larger set of financial laws known as DORA – but it has also given many...Read More
The Europen Union is developing rules and regulations that could be equivalent to a defacto ban on Bitcoin by 2025. Moreover, the European Central Bank (ECB) is spearheading the effort with support from two other major banks. On Jan. 31, Bitcoin environmentalist and venture capitalist Daniel Batten reported that the Bank of International Settlements (BIS)...Read More
According to the Financial Times, European brokers are slashing spot Bitcoin ETF fees after Invesco and WisdomTree reduced theirs by over 60% on European BTC products. The decision comes as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved spot Bitcoin ETFs from major players like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Invesco, resulting in an influx of...Read More
The EU Parliament and Council recently reached a provisional agreement on a list of anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws. Although further deliberation on other proposed measures is yet to be had, the new measures will help streamline the efforts of the national financial agencies of EU countries in this area. Although cryptocurrencies are not...Read More
Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International announced its plan to offer cryptocurrency trading services to its retail customers. This pioneering step will commence by the end of January 2024, marking a new era in the bank’s 97-year history. Raiffeisen Bank to Launch User-Friendly Crypto Trading Services Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank, headquartered in Vienna, has announced its plan to...Read More
Prominent blockchain analytic platform Glassnode is exiting the crypto tax-related projects space by selling Accointing to the European crypto compliance provider Blockpit. In a statement, Blockpit expressed that it finds the similarity between these businesses particularly “attractive.” This decision comes approximately a year after Glassnode acquired Accointing.com, a crypto tax and portfolio tracking platform. The...Read More
On October 18, the ECB Governing Council stated that it had decided to move to the next phase of the digital euro project. The move into the preparation phase for a potential European CBDC follows the completion of a two-year investigation phase. The preparation stage will start on November 1 and will initially last two...Read More
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced notching strategic partnerships with multiple new fiat service providers. Through these collaborations, the platform can now offer a comprehensive range of Euro (EUR) services to its European users. The Importance of Fiat Partnerships In a significant move to enhance user accessibility and expand its foothold in the European market, cryptocurrency exchange...Read More
A new pilot program launched by the BIS, Eurosystem, De Nederlandsche Bank, and the Deutsche Bundesbank this month aims to give them surveillance over international flows of crypto assets. Project Atlas is a proof-of-concept that aims to combine data from crypto exchanges with on-chain data. This will be available on a single analytics platform “for...Read More
The cryptocurrency industry is transforming significantly due to heightened government regulations, particularly in the United States. Many US-based crypto companies, especially exchanges, are considering strategies to shift their operations abroad, which includes exploring new markets and contemplating relocating entirely out of the country. In contrast, Europe has become an attractive destination for crypto firms seeking...Read More
Marina Parthuisot, Binance’s French legal director, stated that due to the upcoming MiCA bill that has not yet approved any stablecoins, Binance is planning to delist all such assets in Europe on June 30, 2024. However, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the CEO of Binance, has responded to this statement on X, saying that it may have...Read More
In what’s described as a rapidly evolving landscape of financial and economic crimes threatening the internal security of the European Union, Europol has applauded the independence and protection offered by blockchain technology. Europol has also raised concerns over the rising criminal activity within decentralized finance (DeFi). Europol Warns of Rising Criminal Activity in DeFi and...Read More
Bitcoin’s price has basically been on pause since mid-June, as the asset trades range-bound since then. The exchange rate of BTC to USD remained above $29,000, with resistance at $30,000. It’s as if markets are waiting on the SEC’s spot Bitcoin ETF approvals. In fact, one metric of bitcoin’s price stability touched five-year historic lows...Read More
While the US SEC continues to reject or delay, at best, all spot Bitcoin ETF applications, such a product has seen the light of day in Europe. Called the Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF, it will be the first similar product compliant with SFDR Article 8 through its decarbonization strategy. The press release dated August...Read More
Mounting regulatory scrutiny has crippled the US operations of Binance, elsewhere, the crypto giant is encountering problems in securing a license as well. In the major roadblock to its global expansion plans, Binance announced exiting the Netherlands after failing to secure a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license with the Dutch regulator. Announcing its departure...Read More
The European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) published a report on Thursday outlining the top 3 nightmare scenarios in which a crypto industry crisis could bleed in and pose “systemic risk” to the broader financial system. The top risk listed is a potential run on a “large reserve-backed stablecoin,” such as Tether (USDT) or USD Coin...Read More
Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) is being hailed as the world’s first comprehensive set of rules that aims to bring the largely unregulated cryptocurrency markets under government regulation. It is part of a broader digital finance package, aka ‘Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA),’ which aims at protecting the financial services sector from fraudulent activities and...Read More
The Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the European Union unanimously favored the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation during a voting process on May 16, 2023. The Finance Ministers of the 27 member states approved the MiCA bill, including amendments to several rules related to the new crypto legislation. EU Council Approves MiCA Bill Approval...Read More
Austrian cooperative banking company – Raiffeisenlandesbank Niederösterreich-Wien (RLB NÖ-Wien) – has partnered with Bitpanda to roll out crypto investment services through the latter’s software as a service (SaaS) offering. With this collaboration, RLB NÖ-Wien has become the first major traditional bank in the European Union to move into digital assets. The Partnership Alongside crypto investment,...Read More
In a landmark ruling, Hong Kong’s High Court declared crypto as property that can be held in trust. This marks the first time such a decision regarding asset class has been made in the city-state. The ruling, which was handed down in liquidation of a case involving the now-defunct crypto exchange Gatecoin, essentially puts crypto...Read More
The Parliament of the European Union gave its official blessing to the Market in Cryptoassets (MiCA) – a regulatory framework that could set clear standards in the industry. The approval comes approximately five months after the infamous FTX collapse and aims to protect investors from such failures. ‘Stringent Rules are Very Much Needed’ The EU...Read More
Societe Generale’s crypto arm – SG Forge – has announced the launch of a stablecoin pegged to the euro on Ethereum, dubbed EUR CoinVertible. The latest offering will be accessible to only those institutional investors qualified on the basis of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures. The EURCV Stablecoin According to the...Read More
In the letter, Polygon’s board requests amendments to Article 30 of the EU Data Act, which the board fears could stifle blockchain development in its current format. The company behind Polygon, a Proof-of-Stake multi-chain blockchain platform around its ERC-20 token MATIC, has sent an open letter to representatives of the EU Parliament regarding Article 30...Read More
Crypto exchange Binance announced the opening a new blockchain hub in Georgia. The establishment of this new “Web3 outpost” is expected to help Binance strengthen blockchain education and accelerate the adoption of crypto in the region. Binance had forged several strategic partnerships, initiatives, as well as community events in the transcontinental country that is known...Read More
