Weekly Update: 26th of June

What happened between June 19 and June 26?

• Bitcoin slid below $60,000 again this week, its lowest level since 2024. Continued ETFoutflows and a broad sell-off pushed prices further down.
• Binance will stop serving EU users from July 1 as a MiCA license fails to materialize. Other players such as MEXC are also expected to leave the European market.
• The Bank of England eased its final stablecoin framework and scrapped holding limits, likely aiming to strengthen the pound’s position as well.
• Strategy’s STRC preferred shares and MSTR stock tumbled in the wake of bitcoin’s decline, with STRC falling well below par.

Bitcoin drops below$60,000 again to its lowest level since 2024

Bitcoin slid further this week and dropped below $60,000 on Thursday, its lowest levelsince 2024. The decline was part of a broad sell-off across the entire cryptomarket. Spot bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $500 million in outflows on June 24, mostof it from BlackRock’s IBIT fund.

Not all signals are gloomy. Asset manager 21Shares noted that the current pullback broadly resembles past post-halving corrections and stuck to a price target of around $100,000 by year-end. For now, however, investors remain cautious and outflows from exchange-traded products continue.

Binance exits the EU as MiCA license fails to materialize

Binance will stop offering crypto services to users in the European Union from July 1. The transition period for the EU’s MiCA rules ends on June 30, and without a license platforms can no longer serve European clients after that date.Greece’s regulator rejected Binance’s application, and no other member state granted authorization in time. The Dutch broker Knaken already wound down its services, and exchanges such as MEXC also appear to be leaving the European market.

For Hodl, Binance’s departure has no impact. We trade primarily on other exchanges, while our Gibraltar-based funds can continue to use Binance. The shake-out does show how strongly MiCA is reshaping the European landscape: licensed platforms are gaining ground while unlicensed players retreat.

Bank of England eases stablecoin rules and scraps holding limits

The Bank of England softened its final framework for systemic stablecoins. The previously proposed holding limits — capped at £20,000 per person and £10 million per business — have been dropped. In their place comes a temporary issuance cap of£40 billion per systemic sterling stablecoin, allowing households and businesses to hold unlimited amounts. Issuers may now allocate up to 70% oftheir reserves to short-term UK government bonds, up from 60%.

With the move, London wants to make up ground after years of trailing the EU’s MiCA framework. The pound’s position likely plays a role too. The United States saw greater demand for dollars and Treasuries as dollar stablecoins took off, since issuers back their tokens with those assets. A thriving market for sterling stablecoins could have a similar effect for the pound.

Strategy’s STRC and MSTR shares tumble on bitcoin’s slide

Bitcoin’s slide also hit Strategy, Michael Saylor’s company with the largest bitcoinposition in the world. Its STRC preferred stock fell as much as 26% below its $100 par value, briefly trading around $74 before recovering to about $77.50. Common stock MSTR dropped below $87, its lowest level in sixteen months, losing more than half its value in just over a month.

STRC is themain vehicle Strategy has used to finance new bitcoin purchases recently. With the shares trading below their issue price, financing costs are rising. The company also disclosed it had sold a small amount of bitcoin to cover dividends on its preferred stock.

In other crypto news

• Circle and Japanese bank Nomura are teaming up to bring stablecoin settlement to Japan’s foreign exchange market, which handles around $440 billion intransactions per day.
• Coinbase opened a MiCA hub in Luxembourg after securing a license from regulator CSSF, giving the exchange access to all 27 EU member states.
• Tether briefly overtook ethereum by market value for the first time this week, at around $187 billion. It reflects stablecoins’ growth but also the current caution in the market.