Binance Could Go Dark For Millions Of EU Users In 2 Weeks

Two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that regulators in Greece plan to reject Binance’s MiCA license application, putting the world’s largest crypto exchange at risk of losing access to EU customers before July 1.

MiCA Deadline Is July 1 And Binance Has No Approved License

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework requires all crypto firms to hold a valid license to serve European customers. 

The transition grace period expires July 1, after which any exchange operating without authorization breaches EU law. 

The European Securities and Markets Authority warned in April that non-compliant firms must wind down EU operations or migrate customers before that date.

Binance applied…

Read more on Benzinga

Ripple Invests In Africa’s Largest Payments Company: What Does It Mean For XRP?

Ripple invested in Flutterwave’s Series E round on Monday, embedding RLUSD and the XRP Ledger into Africa’s largest payments infrastructure as XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) pulls back after yesterday’s 9% breakout.

Ripple Embeds RLUSD Into Flutterwave’s Payment Rails Across Africa

Flutterwave processes over one billion transactions worth more than $50 billion and operates across Africa, with Nigeria as its primary hub. 

The Series E round values the company at $3.2 billion, and Ripple’s strategic investment brings three specific integrations to the platform.

RLUSD becomes a primary settlement asset embedded directly into Flutterwave’s payment rails and Send App remittance corridors. 

The…

Read more on Benzinga

Binance Reportedly Faces EU Exit As MiCA Bid Is Rejected

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is on the brink of losing access to the European Union after its application for a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license in Greece faces rejection, according to Reuters reporting on the matter.

The decision, if confirmed, would prevent Binance from offering services across the 27-member bloc when the MiCA transition period ends on July 1. Under the new regulatory framework, crypto firms must secure approval from a national regulator to gain passporting rights across the EU.

Binance submitted its application through a Greek entity earlier this year, positioning the country as its regulatory base in Europe. The exchange pointed to…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

Bitcoin’s Run To $125,000 Was Good, But The Next Will Be ‘Even Bigger’, Analyst Says

Altcoin Season Next Cycle?

In a market update on June 15, Kevin Capital said the altcoin market is beginning to show signs of basing against Bitcoin after a prolonged downtrend.

The Total Others versus Bitcoin chart is approaching the same major support area that marked the beginning of altcoin recovery in 2019. “I do believe there will be an altcoin season next cycle, unlike the last cycle that we just had,” he said.

The analyst pointed to the end of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative tightening program as a key macro shift. Liquidity conditions are becoming less restrictive, which historically benefits risk assets such as small-cap stocks and crypto.

He also noted that the Russell 2000 has…

Read more on Benzinga

BlackRock Begins Bitcoin Income Fund Built On Covered Calls

BlackRock today launched the iShares Bitcoin Premium Income ETF (Nasdaq: BITA), a new exchange-traded product that holds spot bitcoin and shares of the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) while selling call options on a portion of those holdings to generate monthly income for investors.

The fund writes call options on roughly 25% to 35% of its IBIT holdings, collecting option premiums that are distributed to investors each month. 

The structure preserves the bulk of bitcoin exposure, allowing participation in price appreciation while producing an income stream — a combination that BlackRock says a growing portion of its client base has requested.

“A significant segment of…

Read more on BitcoinMagazine

XRP Stages ‘Impressive Comeback’ With 13% Rally On Monday: Can It Continue?

XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) surged 13% following the U.S.-Iran peace deal as improving risk sentiment fueled a broad crypto market rally.

XRP Is The Strongest-Performing Major Crypto

Santiment data stated XRP’s notable rebound came after sentiment had fallen to some of its weakest levels of 2026, creating conditions for a rapid recovery once macro fears began to ease.

Data shows wallets holding at least 1 million XRP now control 74.1% of the token’s total supply.

Those large holders accumulated an additional 1.53 billion XRP over the past six months, signaling continued conviction among the network’s biggest investors despite recent price weakness.

Santiment said growing interest in Ripple’s…

Read more on Benzinga

Will Bitcoin Hit $50,000? 3 Wall Street Firms Have 3 Different Answers

Galaxy Digital, NYDIG, and Standard Chartered each published in-depth Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) bottom analysis this week—and reached three completely different conclusions on where the cycle low lands.

Galaxy Says Bottom Is Still Ahead Between $40,000 and $46,000

Galaxy examined 13 historical conditions that have always been present at prior Bitcoin cycle bottoms. 

Only four are fully met, two are partially met, and seven remain unmet.

The most sobering gap is in on-chain fundamentals, where several metrics show aggregate holders are not yet capitulating at the scale seen in 2018 or 2022.

The cycle clock adds weight to Galaxy’s bearish case.

Bitcoin historically bottoms 12 to 13 months…

Read more on Benzinga

Bitcoin Tops $66,000, Ethereum, XRP Consolidate Gains As ETF Demand Turns ‘Crypto Winter’ Into Buying Opp

Industry experts argue that recent crypto ETF outflows reflect a maturing market rather than fading interest in digital assets.

A Different ‘Crypto Winter‘

Speaking on CNBC’s ETF Edge on June 16, CoinDesk Indices President David LaValle noted that the recent selloff and roughly $3 billion in outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded products have led some investors to question the future of crypto.

However, he argued that ETF flows are behaving similarly to those seen in traditional asset classes. “They are serving both buy-and-hold investors and institutional holders.”

LaValle described the current downturn as a different type of crypto winter compared with previous cycles.

“This crypto…

Read more on Benzinga

The SpaceX IPO Was Crypto’s Biggest Test Ever: Did It Pass? – SpaceX (NASDAQ:SPCX)

Perpetual Futures Passed The Test By Predicting Where SpaceX Would Open

Hyperliquid’s SPCX perpetual futures traded within what became the stock’s first-day range for most of the week before the IPO, giving traders a continuous 24-hour read on investor sentiment before Nasdaq opened. 

SpaceX closed its first day at $160.95, valuing the company at $2.2 trillion. The shares jumped another 20% to $192.46 Monday.

“The SpaceX premium was not a forecast,” said D2 Finance portfolio manager Luca Parlamento. “It was exposure that re-priced the second a cash market existed to re-price against. That is what pre-IPO perps actually are: a place to hold the opening basis until the bell.” 

Benzinga