Did Binance just lose 450 million EU users?

Binance just lost the EU. Bitcoin bounced from $58K but derivatives aren't impressed. And Strategy's STRC clock is ticking. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ SPONSORED BY Friday, June 26, 2026 Policy Binance tells EU users it will no longer provide services after failing to secure MiCA license Binance has notified users across France, Italy, Poland, and Spain that it will suspend services from July 1 after withdrawing its MiCA license application in Greece on June 24 — four days before the EU's hard deadline. The Hellenic Capital Market Commission never issued a formal decision on the application, submitted in January 2026 through a local holding company, and Greek regulators had raised concerns about Binance's AML controls and whether former CEO Changpeng Zhao could pass MiCA's "fit and proper" test. MiCA requires a single license from any EU member state to passport services across all 27 — without one, Binance cannot legally serve EU users. The exchange has told users their assets remain safe and accessible, and new registrations in the bloc have been halted. Binance plans to seek authorization through France instead, though any approval is likely weeks or months away. Only around 194 firms have successfully obtained MiCA licenses as of mid-2026, underscoring how many exchanges are scrambling. "Our ambitions in Europe remain the same, and we are confident we will secure a MiCA licence in the coming months," Binance said in a statement. Read more → A message from Fidelity Careers Drive your crypto career forward at Fidelity It's an exciting time to be working in crypto, and Fidelity provides the resources and platform you need to truly grow and scale your impact. At Fidelity, we've been building our digital assets ecosystem since 2014 with the same rigor and long-term commitment as our traditional asset classes. Our builders work with a unique "scan, try, scale" approach, giving you the experimental nature of a startup backed by the reach and depth of a large institution. This is how we turn groundbreaking ideas into reality. Whether your background is in UX, product management, tech, or operations, we want your help to discover what's next. Let's turn the promise of digital assets into a reality, together. Learn more about crypto careers at Fidelity Markets Bitcoin bounces from $58,000 as derivatives signal more pain in the pipeline Bitcoin touched $58,100 Thursday — its lowest level since September 2024 — before rebounding to around $59,700 Friday as the crypto market clings to a crucial support level to close out the first half. The bounce is fragile: derivatives data show rising stress across the board, with futures open interest jumping as traders add shorts, implied volatility and put skew climbing, and over $1 billion in leveraged positions — mostly longs — liquidated in 24 hours. ETH failed to mirror the bounce, dropping a further 1% and extending its losing streak to three straight days. Today's session is being heavily shaped by the largest quarterly options expiry of 2026: $10.6 billion in bitcoin options on Deribit expired Friday morning, with 80% of open interest underwater and bitcoin trading roughly $11,000 below the $72,000 max pain level — the sharpest sign yet that the institutional hedging playbook has been rewritten by ETF outflows. Deutsche Bank now forecasts two Fed rate hikes in 2026, reinforcing the liquidity contraction that has made yield-free assets structurally less attractive. Bitcoin is down 32% in H1 2026 — its worst first half since 2018. Read more → Markets All eyes on Strategy's June 30 ex-dividend date and monthly STRC dividend rate reset Strategy's STRC preferred stock is trading around $73 — roughly 27% below its $100 par value — as investors focus on two events tied to June 30. The ex-dividend date lands Monday, with eligible holders receiving a $0.48 per share payment on July 15. But at less than 0.7% of the stock price, that's unlikely to move the needle on its own. The bigger watch item is the monthly dividend rate reset: with STRC's effective yield now near 15% and the stock persistently below par, investors widely expect Strategy to raise the rate from 11.50% to at least 12% or 12.50% to pull shares back toward $100. Strategy has held the rate flat at 11.50% for four consecutive months — a streak that has coincided with STRC trading as low as $64 earlier this month. The reset mechanism matters because maintaining STRC near par is critical to Strategy's ability to issue shares through its ATM program and raise capital for bitcoin purchases. With bitcoin itself down 32% year-to-date and MSTR down 43%, pressure on the STRC yield reset is the most immediate lever the company has to stabilize its preferred stock — and signal to the market that the capital structure remains functional. Read more → Know someone who should be reading this? Share this newsletter See all of CoinDesk’s newsletters    CoinDesk, Inc., 61 9th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York,NY,10011,USA, Unsubscribe Manage Preferences   Copyright © 2026 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.

Crypto ends H1 in the red; bitcoin beat Strategy

Crypto ends H1 in the red — but bitcoin beat Strategy. BTC bounced from $58K. Kospi and Nikkei are sinking again. Have a good weekend. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ SPONSORED BY Friday, June 26, 2026   Crypto ends the first half of 2026 in the red — but bitcoin has a sliver of cold comfort: it beat Strategy. MSTR now trades below the value of its own bitcoin holdings, sitting on more than $13 billion in unrealized losses while STRC preferred stock has fallen to $73, roughly 27% below par. Meanwhile BTC bounced from Thursday’s $58,206 low back toward $60,000, finding support in a zone CF Benchmarks calls historically reliable. Apple’s decision to raise prices on Macs and iPads sent its stock down 6.1%, triggering another Kospi circuit halt and pulling the Nikkei 3% lower. Have a good weekend. Read today’s full report → Market snapshot As of 8am EST Asset Price 24h BTC $59,800 −2.70% ETH $1,555 −5.60% SOL $68.00 −3.20% XRP $1.03 −4.90% Prices approximate. Visit coindesk.com/price for live data. A message from Grayscale Grayscale Solana Trust ETF: 100% Staking Grayscale Solana Trust ETF (ticker: GSOL) is now delivering enhanced value to investors, including 100% staking.* Solana staking rewards have historically averaged 6-8% a year.2 GSOL, an exchange traded product, is not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“40 Act”), and therefore is not subject to the same regulations and protections as 40 Act registered ETFs and mutual funds. GSOL is subject to significant risk and heightened volatility. GSOL is not suitable for an investor who cannot afford to the loss of the entire investment. An investment in GSOL is not a direct investment in Solana. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing in the Fund. Foreside Fund Services, LLC is the Marketing Agent for the Fund. Potential staking rewards are earned by the Fund. Staking rewards are not guaranteed and should not be considered an indication of Fund performance. The Fund’s ability to engage in staking is conditional and may be modified. Staking requires that the Fund lock up SOL for the period of time required by the staking protocol, meaning the Fund cannot sell or transfer the staked SOL, thereby making it illiquid for the period it is being staked. 1 As of 6/4/26 2 Stakingrewards.com. The range observed is from 09/16/22 to 09/28/25 and the average over this period is 7.10%. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Learn more CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets. L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal. What matters today Markets   Story 1 of 2 With crypto ending the first half in the red, bitcoin’s solace is it beat Strategy. Bitcoin ends June down roughly 20% for the month and in the red for H1 2026 — a punishing result for a market that opened the year near $96,000 and touched $126,000 in October 2025. But relative performance tells a more nuanced story. BTC has outperformed virtually every major crypto-adjacent equity: Strategy (MSTR) is now trading below the net asset value of its own bitcoin holdings — mNAV below 1.0 — sitting on more than $13 billion in unrealized losses with its preferred stock STRC down to around $73, roughly 27% below its $100 par value. Michael Saylor posted on X that “volatility tests every capital structure,” as Strategy shares extended Thursday’s 9% decline in Friday premarket, hovering near $85. The crypto-specific selling compounded a macro rout: Apple raised prices on Macs, iPads and other products citing rising component costs, sending its shares down 6.1% and triggering another Kospi circuit halt. South Korean chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung each fell more than 8%. A Hormuz vessel strike briefly revived oil supply concerns before fading. Brent crude slipped below $74 a barrel. The quarter ends today. The second half begins Monday. Read more → Markets   Story 2 of 2 Bitcoin rebounds to nearly $60,000. Kospi and Nikkei sink. BTC bounced 2.7% from Thursday’s low of $58,206 — its weakest level since 2024 — to trade near $59,800 heading into the Friday session. The recovery is unfolding against a deteriorating Asian equity backdrop: South Korea’s Kospi fell as much as 9%, triggering its second trading halt of the week, as Samsung and SK Hynix each dropped more than 8% on renewed AI spending skepticism. Japan’s Nikkei lost 3%. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 1.5%. Gabe Selby, head of research at CF Benchmarks, framed the $50,000–$60,000 zone as historically reliable: it was first established as support in mid-2024 following the U.S. spot ETF launch rally and has held through the yen carry unwind, the election cycle, and every high-time-frame retest since. Ethereum treasury firm Bitmine joins the Russell 1000 Index today, a structural addition that will force ETF and index-tracking funds to add BMNR to their portfolios. STRC — Strategy’s preferred stock — has become more correlated with BTC than ever, undermining its appeal as a steadier income vehicle. June 30 brings the STRC ex-dividend date and a closely watched monthly dividend rate reset, with investors expecting Strategy to raise the rate from 11.50% to at least 12% as STRC’s effective yield approaches 15%. Read more → Exchange Review, supported by Gate CEX volumes drop to lowest since September 2024 as RWA perps hit record high Combined spot and derivatives trading on centralized exchanges fell to $4.41T in May, the weakest month since September 2024, as RWA perpetual futures volumes bucked the trend to hit an all-time high. Read more → CoinDesk Disclosure: The information contained in this newsletter, and any information linked through the items contained herein, is not intended to provide sufficient information to form the basis for an investment decision. You should seek additional information regarding the merits and risks of investing in any cryptocurrency or digital assets. L1.co Disclosure: This material is for informational purposes only, and the content contained herein should not be considered investment advice or a solicitation, offer, or recommendation to sell or buy any asset, strategy, or product. Investing in digital assets involves a high degree of risk, including the loss of principal. Crypto Daybook Americas: A newsletter from CoinDesk Were you forwarded this newsletter? Sign up here.  Copyright © 2026 CoinDesk, All rights reserved.  CoinDesk, Inc., 61 9th Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011, USA Unsubscribe Manage preferences