The chair of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission reportedly said that there would be no extensions or waivers for crypto companies that did not receive approval to operate in European Union member states under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework by July 1. According to a Friday Reuters report, Chair Carlos San Basilio said that “there will be no exceptions ​or extensions” to the July 1 MiCA deadline, referring to Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges affected by the framework. Binance’s operations in the EU are expected to scale back after it withdrew its application with Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission and had not received approval from any other authority as of Friday.“What we are concerned about, however, is how this period — the end of the transitional period — will unfold, and how the adaptation to the new environment will take place; that is why ​we are in ​contact with the ⁠organisations that have not been granted a licence,” said Basilio, according to Reuters.Should Binance fail to secure approval from a financial regulator in the next few days, the exchange will be required to halt the onboarding of new EU-based users and limit certain services for EU-based accounts starting on July 1. Other crypto exchanges have secured last-minute approvals under MiCA, but Binance, with millions of users in the EU, could have a far greater impact on the region’s crypto market.Related: Binance’s MiCA fight raises questions over ECB influence“This is Binance’s philosophy of doing business,” said OKX founder and CEO Mingxing Xu in response to former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao’s comments on the exchange’s EU deadline. “They ignore laws and regulations, while misleading the public with bullshits. According to public media reports and court filings, the platform’s so-called ‘best liquidity’ included trading activity associated with risks involving money laundering, sanctions violations, and market manipulation.”Cointelegraph reached out to a Binance spokesperson, who referred to the company’s Wednesday statement.Binance users looking to other exchanges?With the crypto exchange expected to wind down some operations for EU-based users, some are reporting leaving Binance entirely without a definitive timeline on its return.Some Reddit users said that they were considering Kraken for their funds. Payward, doing business as Kraken, has a Crypto Asset Service Provider license through the Central Bank of Ireland.Magazine: AI is banking the unbanked in Africa… faster than cryptoCointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have opened a joint public consultation on whether to better align portfolio margin rules across securities and derivatives markets, seeking feedback on approaches that could expand cross-margining and reduce market fragmentation.The agencies are requesting input on cross-margining, collateral treatment, risk management, customer protections and the potential effects on market liquidity and competition. The public comment period will remain open for 60 days after the request is published in the Federal Register.“Cross-margining offers a clear opportunity to unlock liquidity that remains frozen in separate accounts,” SEC Chair Paul Atkins said, adding that harmonizing the agencies’ frameworks could help prevent jurisdictional overlap from limiting innovation and market efficiency.Cross-margining allows offsetting positions across different products or markets to be considered together when calculating margin requirements, rather than treating each position separately. By recognizing these offsets, companies can often post less collateral against hedged positions because margin is based on the portfolio’s overall risk rather than each position in isolation.The SEC oversees securities and security-based swaps, while the CFTC regulates futures, swaps and commodity derivatives. As crypto exchanges and brokerages increasingly operate across both markets, the agencies’ joint review reflects the growing need for coordinated oversight.Related: CFTC hires SEC crypto task force adviser with blockchain forensics chopsCrypto derivatives expand across regulated marketsThe joint request for comment follows recent regulatory approvals that paved the way for a broader expansion of crypto derivatives offerings. On May 29, the CFTC approved Bitcoin (BTC) perpetual futures for prediction market platform Kalshi and cleared Coinbase Financial Markets to offer eligible US institutional clients access to certain Deribit-listed crypto options and perpetual futures. Coinbase began offering that access the same day through its integration with Deribit.A few weeks later, Kraken launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for eligible US users through its recently acquired Bitnomial platform, expanding its domestic derivatives offerings beyond CME-listed crypto futures.Source: Kraken ProThe expansion of crypto derivatives in the US has also raised broader questions about whether existing regulatory frameworks remain appropriate across different markets.Earlier this week, CFTC Chair Mike Selig said cryptocurrency perpetual futures were not a “natural fit” for traditional commodity markets such as agriculture, highlighting the challenges regulators face in applying existing frameworks across increasingly diverse asset classes.Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves

This week, crypto analytics company CryptoQuant challenged the prevailing narrative around Michael Saylor’s Strategy, urging the company to pause Bitcoin purchases and rebuild its cash reserves. The warning came after its dividend coverage fell to just 14 months from roughly seven years.Strategy isn’t facing an immediate cash crunch, but CryptoQuant’s warning puts the spotlight on the financing structure behind its Bitcoin strategy. With cash reserves shrinking and dividend obligations increasing, Strategy’s ability to keep funding new purchases is drawing closer scrutiny.The rest of this week’s Crypto Biz shows how the industry is evolving. CBOE is eyeing perpetual Bitcoin and Ether futures, Chainlink is working with European and Korean banks on stablecoin-based FX settlement and Zcash miner Fortitude is heading to Nasdaq through an unlikely merger with a healthcare company.CryptoQuant urges Strategy to pause Bitcoin buying as dividend coverage drops to 14 monthsEarlier this week, CryptoQuant argued that Strategy’s aggressive Bitcoin accumulation has become increasingly difficult to sustain, urging the company to rebuild its cash reserves after dividend coverage fell to just 14 months from roughly seven years.CEO Ki Young Ju said the Strategy’s cash position has deteriorated as annual dividend obligations surged to $1.2 billion following large issuances of STRC preferred shares carrying an 11.5% yield. While Strategy’s cash reserve recovered to about $1.4 billion after recent MSTR share sales, it remains down 38% year-to-date after the company repurchased $1.5 billion of its 2029 senior notes.The warning comes as Strategy’s funding model faces additional pressure. STRC preferred shares recently fell as much as 17.5% below their $100 par value, limiting the company’s ability to raise fresh capital through additional preferred stock sales. Strategy’s cash reserve and dividend coverage. Source: CryptoQuantCBOE considers converting Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual contractsThe Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is weighing a plan to convert its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures into perpetual futures, according to a Wall Street Journal report.The potential move follows recent regulatory changes after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved crypto perpetual futures for Kalshi and outlined a framework for other registered exchanges to offer similar products.CBOE launched its continuous Bitcoin and Ether futures last December, with contracts extending as far as 10 years. Unlike traditional futures, perpetual contracts have no expiration date, allowing traders to maintain leveraged positions indefinitely. They were first popularized by crypto derivatives platform BitMEX and have since gained traction across both centralized and decentralized markets. Perp volumes have surged across DeFi exchanges. Source: DeFiLlamaZcash miner Fortitude to go public through Nasdaq merger with HeartSciencesZcash miner Fortitude Mining Holdings is set to go public through an all-stock merger with medical technology company HeartSciences, bringing together two businesses from entirely different industries.The merger will allow Fortitude to secure a Nasdaq listing without pursuing a traditional initial public offering, while HeartSciences’ existing shareholders will retain a minority stake in the combined company. Following the transaction, the combined company will operate under the Fortitude name and is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker TUDE, subject to regulatory approval.The announcement sent HeartSciences shares up as much as 91% on Tuesday. Before the merger, the healthcare company remained unprofitable, reporting an $8.77 million net loss in fiscal 2025 despite advancing its product roadmap.HeartSciences stock. Source: Yahoo FinanceChainlink joins European and Korean banking groups to explore stablecoin FX settlementChainlink has joined a cross-border banking initiative with European and South Korean financial institutions to study whether regulated euro and won stablecoins can enable real-time foreign exchange settlement.Dubbed Project Pangea, the working group brings together South Korean digital asset infrastructure company FairSquareLab, the Unified Korea Alliance (UniKA), Qivalis and Chainlink to evaluate atomic swaps using blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.Rather than launching a live payment network, Project Pangea will explore how tokenized currencies could improve wholesale financial markets, where the global foreign exchange market handles an estimated $9.6 trillion in daily trading volume. The initiative reflects growing interest among banks in using stablecoins and tokenized deposits to modernize cross-border settlement, reduce friction and improve efficiency.In a bullish scenario, the stablecoin market could reach $4 trillion by 2030. Source: CitigroupCrypto Biz is your weekly pulse on the business behind blockchain and crypto, delivered directly to your inbox every Thursday.