Today in crypto, the European Parliament’s economic affairs committee urged the European Commission to consider rules for DeFi, staking, NFTs and crypto lending, as Binance and other crypto exchanges face a critical regulatory deadline. Meanwhile, Securitize said it expects to raise $400 million in its upcoming public debut.
EU lawmakers urge assessing DeFi, staking, NFT regulation
The European Parliament’s economic affairs committee has urged the European Commission to assess whether crypto lending and borrowing, staking, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) should be regulated.
The recommendations were part of a report tablets Friday for plenary vote. It also called for promoting tokenization across financial services, encouraging euro-denominated stablecoins and assessing whether additional crypto activities should be regulated under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Drafted by Belgian Member of the European Parliament Johan Van Overtveldt, the report is an own-initiative resolution by the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) that outlines recommendations for the Commission on digital asset regulation.
It will next go before the European Parliament for a vote, expected on July 7. If adopted, the resolution would become Parliament’s official position on digital assets policy but would not amend MiCA or create new legal obligations.
The legislative timeline shows the committee’s approval of the report and its referral for a plenary vote. Source: European Parliament
Securitize expects to raise $400M ahead of public debut
Tokenization platform Securitize said on Friday it expects to raise $400 million in its upcoming public debut through a merger with Cantor Equity Partners II (CEPT), a special purpose acquisition company backed by Cantor Fitzgerald.
Securitize said its final redemption results showed less than 30% of CEPT shareholders elected to redeem, and the company expects to receive approximately $400 million in gross proceeds from the merger, including related private investment in public equity, or PIPE, financings and excluding transaction-related expenses.
CEPT shares climbed on Friday as Securitize announced fewer shareholder redemptions than expected. Source: Google Finance
The merger between Securitize and CEPT is expected to close on Wednesday, July 1, subject to shareholder approval on Monday and other closing conditions, and the company will then trade under the ticker SECZ on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, July 2.
Binance faces EU deadline as MiCA rules take effect
Binance and other crypto exchanges could be forced to scale back operations across the European Union after Spain’s securities regulator said there will be no extensions to the bloc’s July 1 MiCA licensing deadline.
Carlos San Basilio, chair of Spain’s National Securities Market Commission, said crypto companies that have not secured authorization under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework will not receive additional time to comply. Binance has yet to obtain a MiCA license from any EU regulator after withdrawing its application in Greece, leaving its future in the region uncertain.
If approval is not granted before the deadline, Binance is expected to stop onboarding new EU customers and restrict certain services for existing users until it becomes compliant. The move could have an outsized impact given Binance’s large European user base, although several rival exchanges, including Kraken, have already secured MiCA licenses.
The deadline marks one of the biggest regulatory tests yet for Europe’s crypto industry. MiCA is designed to create a single licensing regime across the EU, allowing approved firms to operate throughout the bloc while tightening oversight of exchanges, stablecoins, and other crypto services.
