Bitcoin news

The transitional period of MiCA, the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, ends on 1 July 2026. From that date, crypto-asset service providers must hold a MiCA authorisation to keep operating in the Union, or wind down their activity. Swiss firms targeting EU clients must also obtain authorisation from a member state.

Adopted in 2023, MiCA is the world's first comprehensive crypto-asset framework at the scale of a major market. It came into application in stages: stablecoin rules in mid-2024, the service provider regime in late 2024, then national transitional periods for firms already registered. It is this final tolerance that expires on 1 July 2026, definitively closing the chapter of national regimes.

For users, the deadline cuts both ways. On one side, authorised platforms offer stronger guarantees: capital requirements, governance, segregation of client assets, conduct rules. On the other, firms without authorisation must close or leave the European market, which can force customers to move their assets, a moment when handling mistakes and phishing attempts multiply.

Worth watching: the list of authorisations granted by national regulators, the fate of latecomer platforms, and the effect of this consolidation on fees and the range of services available in the Union.

On 14 May 2026, the US Senate Banking Committee advanced the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act by a vote of 15 to 9. The bill splits oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC. It still needs to be merged with the Senate Agriculture Committee version before a floor vote requiring 60 votes, with backers aiming for passage before 4 July 2026.

The journey illustrates the mechanics of American lawmaking: in the Senate, market oversight belongs to two committees, Banking for the SEC and Agriculture for the CFTC, a historical legacy of agricultural futures markets. Each produces its own version of the text, which must then be reconciled. And to overcome a filibuster, the final vote requires a qualified majority of 60 out of 100, hence support from both parties.

On substance, the bill must settle who regulates what: which digital assets fall under securities law, which under commodities law, and under what conditions a project can move from one category to the other. Bitcoin, generally treated as a commodity, would remain under CFTC oversight.

Worth following: the merger of the two versions of the text, the vote count on the Senate floor, and whether the 4 July target holds, a timeline most observers consider ambitious.

Since 29 May 2026, CME Group has been trading its cryptocurrency futures and options around the clock, with a short maintenance window over the weekend. More than 7,200 contracts changed hands during the first weekend, a sign of institutional demand for regulated products available at any time.

CME, the world's largest derivatives exchange, has listed Bitcoin futures since December 2017. But its hours remained those of traditional finance, closed from Friday evening to Sunday evening, while bitcoin trades without interruption. That mismatch produced the famous CME gaps: holes between Friday's closing price and Sunday's reopening, watched by analysts as price magnets.

For institutional investors, continuous trading removes a real blind spot: it becomes possible to hedge a position or react to a Saturday event without waiting for the reopening. It is also a symbol: the most institutional of financial venues is adapting its hours to the nature of the underlying asset, and not the other way round.

Worth following: how weekend volumes evolve beyond the initial curiosity, the possible extension of this regime to other CME asset classes, and the response of the other major derivatives exchanges.