European | Crypto

The moves highlight growing uncertainty over whether crypto prediction markets are to be treated as finance or gambling. Update Jan. 20, 12:29 p.m. UTC: This article has been updated to include a paragraph on the details surrounding Portugal’s ban on Polymarket. Hungary and Portugal have taken steps to restrict access to the crypto-based prediction market Polymarket, adding to mounting regulatory pressure on the platform across Europe. Hungary’s regulatory authority, Szabályozott Tevékenységek Felügyeleti Hatósága, has temporarily blocked access to Polymarket’s domain and subdomains, citing the “forbidden organization of gambling activities.” According to an official notice released Friday, the restriction will remain in place until the authority completes its review. Read more

The euro finally has a substantial stablecoin market, and for once, it's not just a niche corner of DeFi. When MiCA’s stablecoin rules kicked in June 2024, they turned euro-pegged stablecoins into a regulated product category with paperwork, reserve rules, and an actual licensing lane. Under MiCA, stablecoins that reference a single fiat currency sit […] The post European crypto trading volume is soaring, but a hidden “venue gap” is silently killing your execution price appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Legal experts are concerned that transforming ESMA into the “European SEC” may hinder the licensing of crypto and fintech in the region. The European Commission’s proposal to expand the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is raising concerns about the centralization of the bloc’s licensing regime, despite signaling deeper institutional ambitions for its capital markets structure. On Thursday, the Commission published a package proposing to “direct supervisory competences” for key pieces of market infrastructure, including crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), trading venues and central counterparties to ESMA, Cointelegraph reported. Concerningly, the ESMA’s jurisdiction would extend to both the supervision and licensing of all European crypto and financial technology (fintech) firms, potentially leading to slower licensing regimes and hindering startup development, according to Faustine Fleuret, head of public affairs at decentralized lending protocol Morpho. Read more

Earlier in the year, Europe’s Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde insisted that Bitcoin would not be included in the reserve portfolios of central banks under the ECB’s umbrella; the statement was intended to draw a firm boundary around sovereign engagement with digital assets. For more than two decades, reserve cohesion has served as a […] The post EU shock Bitcoin move: A European central bank quietly bought BTC despite ECB’s hard “No” appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Competition is heating up as more exchanges set up operations in Europe, where MiCA provides new “rules of the road.” Crypto exchanges are setting up shop in Europe and securing licenses with EU officials, bringing more competition to the regulated European market. So far this year, OKX, Coinbase, Bybit and Crypto.com have all secured licenses under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. While it imposes strict requirements on various services in the crypto industry, it now means that crypto exchanges in the European Economic Area (EEA) will all be playing by the same rules. Observers anticipate that this will see Europe pull ahead of other jurisdictions like the United States, which is still in the process of developing a rudimentary framework for stablecoins. Indeed, European regulators are already discussing a second regulatory package, “MiCA 2.0,” that would fill gaps not addressed in its first iteration. Read more

US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have entered a third consecutive day of outflows, shedding more than $1 billion. This trend reflects a shift in institutional sentiment as Bitcoin’s price continues to hover around the $105,000 mark without a clear breakout. US Bitcoin ETFs outflow Data from SoSoValue shows that the 12 US-listed spot Bitcoin […] The post US Bitcoin ETFs navigate $1.2 billion outflows amid European retail approval appeared first on CryptoSlate.