MiCA, short for the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114), is the European Union’s single rulebook for crypto-asset issuers and for exchanges, custodians and other crypto service providers. Its stablecoin rules applied on 30 June 2024 and its rules for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) applied on 30 December 2024, with a final transition deadline … Read more
Keeping crypto on an exchange means the exchange holds your private keys, so your coins are only as safe as that company’s solvency and security. The record shows the risk: FTX lost over $8 billion of customer deposits when it collapsed in November 2022, Celsius froze withdrawals in June 2022 before filing for bankruptcy, and … Read more
The five crypto exchanges we would shortlist for most European users in 2026 are Kraken, Coinbase, Bitstamp, OKX and Bybit EU. Each holds a MiCA crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorisation that you can check in the ESMA interim register, which means it can keep serving clients across the EU and EEA after the 1 July … Read more
On 21 February 2025, attackers drained about 401,000 ETH, worth roughly $1.46 billion, from a Bybit Ethereum cold wallet during a routine transfer to a warm wallet. The FBI later attributed the theft to North Korea’s TraderTraitor actors, the group widely known as Lazarus, in a public alert dated 26 February 2025. No customer deposits … Read more
Verdict: Binance has the lowest spot fees at 0.10% maker and taker, but it does not serve US residents. Kraken Pro starts at 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker after its July 2026 change, the highest of the three. Coinbase Advanced splits by region: 0.50% maker and 0.90% taker in the US, 0.25% and 0.50% in … Read more