The post AscendEX Halts Operations July 1 After Failing MiCA License, ETH Wallets Left Near Empty appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Crypto News The centralized crypto exchange AscendEX ceased all operations effective July 1, 2026, and warned users it cannot guarantee full recovery of their balances. The exchange published its official notice on July 6, five days after halting trading, citing MiCA compliance requirements, a failed strategic transaction, and deteriorating market conditions. In our reading, the sequencing matters: the platform stopped serving customers before it explained why, leaving deposits, swaps and staking frozen. AscendEX said it is assessing options for account holders while cautioning it cannot promise withdrawal timing or amounts. For an altcoin-heavy user base, that uncertainty over locked funds is the immediate and unresolved concern. Regulation sits at the center of the collapse. The European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, known as MiCA, took
The post Binance CEO Says MiCA Is Backfiring as EU Users Move Beyond Regulators’ Reach appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Binance co-CEO Richard Teng says the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) rules are backfiring, with most departing users moving funds into self-custody rather than to licensed rivals. Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Asia summit in Singapore, Teng said 70% of funds withdrawn by affected EU users went to self-hosted wallets. Only 30% moved to platforms licensed under the new regime. Binance Withdrew its MiCA Bid Before the July Deadline Binance stopped serving new EU customers on July 1 after pulling its MiCA license application in Greece in late June. Teng said the approval was repeatedly delayed without explanation, so the company withdrew to avoid a rushed transition for users. The exit forced existing customers to decide where to move their balances, and it coincided with its heaviest weekly outflows in more than three years. Binance’s own data on those flows now
The post ZachXBT Sounds Alarm Over AscendEX as Users Struggle to Withdraw Funds appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
AscendEX says withdrawals will be handled manually, with no guarantees on processing times or payment amounts. AscendEX said it stopped operating on July 1 after the MiCA transition period ended. Following its exit, ZachXBT warned the public about the platform’s liquidity, alleging that it wouldn’t be able to process customer withdrawals. ZachXBT Raises Fresh Liquidity Concerns In its announcement, the crypto exchange said that it was winding down due to challenging market conditions and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which left several crypto firms unable to operate in the region after failing to obtain the required authorization. Following the decision, account access has been limited to offboarding processes, while automated withdrawals have been paused. The exchange said all withdrawal requests will now go through manual reviews an
The post Why Kraken Wants EU Deposit Rails, Not Just Fees appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Picture a euro trader trying to wire funds on a Friday, hoping to catch a weekend dip. The crypto exchange has liquidity. The market’s moving. But the deposit sits in limbo because the payment partner went into maintenance or got jittery. That exact choke point, the bank rail, is why Kraken is now chasing a full European banking licence, with Lithuania flagged as the preferred home. It’s not about another trading fee. It’s about controlling the pipe that money actually flows through. And the timing isn’t random. MiCA went live for exchanges in Europe on July 1, 2026, and the scoreboard already shows who’s leading in this new regime. DefiLlama’s MiCA dashboard lists Kraken as the liquidity leader among regulated EU venues, with roughly $399.7 million in spot liquidity and about $206.9 million in perpetuals, spanning around 1,704 markets DefiLlama (MiCA dashboard). The Big Picture: EU Banking M
Circle’s EURC launch on Base is a small but important stablecoin infrastructure move. It brings a native euro-denominated token to one of the most watched Ethereum layer-2 networks at a time when European regulation is b
