European Union efforts to tighten oversight of decentralized finance (DeFi) could drive crypto users toward platforms offering fewer investor protections, according to Coinbase’s head of EU policy.

Roeland Van der Stappen told Cointelegraph that regulated crypto platforms could respond by limiting or dropping access to DeFi services.

“Rules designed to protect investors would end up pushing activity towards the places with the least protection,” Van der Stappen said.

In its September response to the European Commission’s consultation on the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), the European Securities and Markets Authority recommended creating a new category of regulated crypto services for firms that give customers access to DeFi protocols.

EBA lists suitability tests as an option for crypto lending

In September, the European Banking Authority (EBA) urged the Commission to study new rules for crypto lending and borrowing, including when regulated platforms give customers access to DeFi lending protocols. It listed suitability tests, which assess whether a service is appropriate for a customer, as one option in its consultation response.

Related: France proposes liability for crypto exchanges offering DeFi access

Van der Stappen said that extending such tests to other DeFi services could mean treating a simple stablecoin swap the same way as leveraged lending, despite their different risks.

Lending, liquidity provision and on-chain swaps would be the most exposed activities, he said. Some providers may narrow their offerings or even withdraw DeFi access altogether.

“A proportionate approach would be to allow CASPs [crypto-asset service providers] to continue offering that access with safeguards matched to the activity,” Van der Stappen said.

Coinbase warns of fragmented liquidity

Van der Stappen said restricting access through regulated platforms could split DeFi liquidity into smaller pools and leave EU users with worse prices on trades.

He said the restrictions could encourage “walled gardens,” or isolated DeFi services, and steer users toward providers outside the EU with fewer safeguards.

A 2026 Adan-Ipsos survey found that 49% of French crypto buyers preferred accessing DeFi through exchanges, compared with 14% who favored personal wallets.

A Chainalysis report on Monday attributed a modest decline in crypto activity in Germany largely to declining decentralized exchange activity. Across the EU, crypto activity grew 2.2% in the 12 months through June 2026.

A 2025 Chainalysis report described DeFi as a small but growing segment of Europe’s crypto market. In the European Economic Area, May 2025 was the strongest month for DeFi lending activity in the period Chainalysis examined.

Magazine: Stablecoins can drain from banks and nations at lightning speed

Stablecoin supply fell by $14.2 billion over 30 days, the biggest drop since June 2022, according to Glassnode.

Key points:

• The total supply of stablecoins fell by $14.2 billion over the 30 days to Nov. 9, the largest 30-day drop since June 2022.
• Tether (USDT) is trading slightly below its US dollar peg.
• The Coinbase Premium Index remains negative after dropping to its lowest level in four years at the end of October.

Stablecoin supply drop most acute since June 2022

The rolling 30-day contraction in stablecoin supply hit $14.2 billion this week, more than the $9.5 billion drop seen as Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $58,000 on July 1. It also marks the most pronounced drawdown since June 2022, when supply fell by nearly $30 billion.

Selected stablecoin supply data. Source: Glassnode

Stablecoin liquidity is a key yardstick for gauging crypto market sentiment.

“A shrinking supply means holders are redeeming stablecoins for dollars and taking that cash out of the market, which leaves less fuel for a rally,” Glassnode commented. 

USDT, the largest stablecoin by market cap, continues to trade slightly below its $1 peg, per data from TradingView. Glassnode attributes the phenomenon to the “same pressure” from investors rotating out of the stablecoin market.

“Should the 30-day change turn back to growth, it would be the first sign that new money is coming in,” it added.

USDT/USD one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Coinbase Premium stays negative after four-year lows

Crypto market metrics continue to point to weakening demand as Bitcoin trades near 11-week lows.

Related: Bitcoin short-term holders send 47K BTC to exchanges at a loss

On Tuesday, onchain analytics platform CryptoQuant that its measure of Bitcoin demand fell by 284,000 BTC over 30 days, the most pronounced downturn since March 2025. 

The Coinbase Premium Index, which measures the difference between Coinbase’s BTC/USD price and Binance’s BTC/USDT price, was still negative on Wednesday. The index fell to -0.27% on Oct. 29, its lowest level since November 2022.

“This unusually deep discount suggests weaker relative demand or greater selling pressure on Coinbase, a major venue for US-based trading activity,” CryptoQuant contributing analyst Amr Taha wrote at the time.

Bitcoin Coinbase Premium Index. Source: CryptoQuant

Ethereum research group Ethlabs said Wednesday it will withdraw its proposal to speed up the network’s block production from the planned Hegotá upgrade, urging core developers to prepare the network for quantum attacks by 2027.

On Wednesday, the group outlined “pqai27,” a proposed roadmap that aims to protect Ethereum against threats from quantum computing and increasingly capable artificial intelligence. It said unrelated upgrades should be reconsidered.

Ethlabs previously backed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)-8198, known as Quick Slots, which would initially cut Ethereum’s slot time from 12 seconds to 10 seconds. The group said it would redirect resources to pqai27 but will still pursue faster slots in 2028. 

For Hegotá, Ethlabs said FOCIL, a planned censorship-resistance feature, should proceed only if it does not jeopardize quantum readiness. The group called Frame Transactions, which would enable more flexible account authentication, central to the proposed transition.

It said Glamsterdam, the upgrade before Hegotá, should proceed as planned.

Ethereum core developers have not approved the proposal. The Ethereum Foundation’s published roadmap still targets December 2029 for quantum resistance. At Devcon, researcher Justin Drake said he hopes to complete the transition in 2028.

Related: Ethereum devs won’t fork Glamsterdam on Hoodi until smart contract risks resolved

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed 348 enforcement actions in fiscal 2026, down 23.7% from 456 a year earlier.

Its annual enforcement results included cases involving alleged crypto fraud and failures in FTX’s audits.

In its Tuesday release, the SEC said it had charged three purported crypto trading platforms and four investment clubs in an alleged scheme that defrauded investors of at least $14 million. In a separate case, the agency accused the founder of a Bitcoin mining business of misappropriating $48.5 million after raising more than $95.6 million from about 6,400 investors.

In April, the SEC settled charges against Francis Decker, the Prager Metis partner who led FTX’s audits, over failures to meet professional auditing standards.

In February, a jury found Ismael Zarco Sanchez liable for securities fraud and registration violations over his role in the $300 million CryptoFX Ponzi scheme. In July, a court ordered Michael Noble to pay $1.07 million in a case over his role promoting BitConnect’s crypto lending program.

Fiscal 2026 was SEC Chair Paul Atkins’ first full fiscal year in office. The 348 enforcement actions were the agency’s fewest since 1991, according to a Reuters review of SEC records. Standalone actions fell to 235 from 303 a year earlier.

The decline in crypto enforcement was already visible in 2025, when the SEC filed 13 crypto-related actions, down from 33 in 2024, according to Cornerstone Research. Five of the 13 were filed before former Chair Gary Gensler left office in January 2025.

The SEC said its new enforcement analytics office was using “blockchain and financial-flow analysis” to detect potential misconduct earlier.

Related: SEC flags tokenization as high-risk area in 2027 market examinations

BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), recorded more than $2 billion in net outflows over nine consecutive trading sessions through Wednesday.

Investors pulled a net $269.7 million from IBIT on Wednesday, accounting for about 90% of the day’s $300 million in net withdrawals across US spot Bitcoin ETFs, according to Farside Investors data.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (GBTC) recorded $39.1 million in net withdrawals, while the Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust ETF (MSBT) drew $9 million in net inflows.

US spot Bitcoin ETFs posted nearly $1.44 billion in net withdrawals over five straight sessions. Wednesday’s increase followed three sessions of easing outflows.

Crypto exchange Bitfinex said on Wednesday that slowing ETF outflows could be an early step toward a market floor, but were not enough on their own to establish a recovery.

Bitfinex found that in the ETF outflow streaks it studied earlier this year, Bitcoin gained a median 6.4% over 10 trading sessions when the streaks ended with at least three consecutive sessions of net inflows.

Bitcoin traded near $73,000 at the time of writing, down 8.5% over the past week, according to CoinGecko.

In a Wednesday note shared with Cointelegraph, Laser Digital’s derivatives trading desk pointed to weak spot demand, a persistently negative Coinbase premium and large liquidations of leveraged long positions.

The desk said Bitcoin barely rose during Monday’s rebound in the Nasdaq, which gained almost 3%.

Related: Bitcoin hovers near $74K as stocks rise despite US bond yield rebound

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $95 million in net outflows on Tuesday as investors poured billions of dollars into stock funds during a market pullback.

Tuesday’s withdrawals brought net outflows from US spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs to roughly $1.6 billion since the start of November, according to SoSoValue data.

Bitcoin ETF outflows eased for a third straight session, while stock funds accounted for all 17 of the top US-listed ETFs by inflows over five trading sessions, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

Equity ETF investors “devoured” the dip

US-listed ETFs attracted roughly $12 billion per day over those five sessions, with all 17 of the top funds by inflows investing in equities, Balchunas said on X on Tuesday.

The biggest beneficiaries included Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO), Invesco’s Nasdaq-100 ETF (QQQ) and BlackRock’s iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV).

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) recorded $78 million in net withdrawals Tuesday, its eighth straight trading session of outflows. The fund recorded about $1.73 billion in net outflows over the streak, according to Farside Investors.

Morgan Stanley’s Bitcoin Trust ETF (MSBT) attracted $20 million Tuesday, although the inflows were insufficient to offset broader losses.

Bitcoin demand weakens as ETF outflows ease

Daily net outflows from Bitcoin ETFs outflows slowed from $430 million Thursday and $412 million Friday to $201 million Monday and $95 million Tuesday, but broader market indicators remained weak, according to CryptoQuant.

CryptoQuant’s Bitcoin Bull Score Index dropped to 20 on Monday from 90 on Oct. 13, signaling “extremely bearish” conditions, according to a Tuesday report seen by Cointelegraph.

Related: Bitcoin nears 11-week low after ‘discouraging’ US CPI inflation beat

The analysts reported that apparent Bitcoin demand contracted by 284,000 BTC over 30 days, the fastest pace since March 2025. CryptoQuant said similar conditions have preceded local market bottoms but warned that a deeper correction remains possible, identifying $73,200 as a key Bitcoin support level.

At publishing time, Bitcoin traded at $73,998, down 1% over the past 24 hours, and down 5.2% over the past seven days, according to CoinGecko.

Magazine: Bitcoin’s ‘best buying opportunity ever’ has arrived: Mark Moss

South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) plans to allow crypto exchanges to suspend deposits and withdrawals when hacking is suspected, rather than waiting until a breach is confirmed, amid a push for stronger industry security.

On Thursday, the FSC said it would issue a no-action letter permitting preventive suspensions under certain conditions. Current rules prohibit exchanges from blocking withdrawals without legitimate grounds and explicitly allow restrictions only when a hacking incident is clearly established.

The regulator also called for round-the-clock monitoring and incident response, higher cold-wallet holdings, and stronger insurance coverage and reserves. The FSC said exchanges unable to monitor continuously would process deposits and withdrawals only during staffed hours and notify users in advance.

The move follows recent security incidents involving South Korean exchanges. On Friday, crypto exchange GOPAX suspended trading, deposits and standard withdrawals after receiving a hacking threat, although a representative said no breach had occurred. On Oct. 24, trading platform Prabang suspended services after detecting abnormal hot-wallet withdrawals, reporting about $70,000 in losses.

In October, the FSC identified cybersecurity deficiencies at 130 of 555 financial companies reviewed nationwide. It separately identified GOPAX operator Streami and Prabang among 16 companies involved in earlier security incidents.

Related: South Korea lawmakers mull pushing crypto tax implementation to 2029

Months before Binance lost $6.3 billion to a hack, its chief security officer described to Cointelegraph how a fake job interview could give attackers a foothold inside the exchange — closely resembling one of the entry methods later used against the exchange.

During a July interview about Binance’s response to rising security threats, Jimmy Su told Cointelegraph that fake job interviews were “something we worry about a lot internally,” explaining how attackers could tailor a job opportunity to an employee before persuading them to run code as part of a technical assessment. 

“And once that gets executed, the device is compromised and then they can start harvesting credentials,” Su said, adding that attackers could then use that to penetrate further into the network.

Su’s detailed warning about malicious coding assessments was not included in Cointelegraph’s July coverage, but takes on new significance following the biggest crypto exchange hack in history.

In September, a Binance software engineer downloaded a malicious coding assignment onto his work computer during a fake job interview. That compromise became part of the multistage attack that culminated in October’s theft, according to Binance’s preliminary investigation.

During the interview with Cointelegraph, Su had also anticipated why security tools might miss such a trap. A technical assessment could involve seemingly legitimate steps, such as downloading a code repository from GitHub, he explained in July.

“Each step is actually legitimate on its own. So a lot of the anti-virus tools may not be able to detect it and flag it,” he said.

Binance’s investigation subsequently described a similar detection failure, saying the assignment’s setup process executed malware that evaded its endpoint security tools through obfuscation and other evasion techniques.

Binance said onus is on the company to detect attacks

Su told Cointelegraph that it was Binance’s responsibility to contain the risk when employees pursued outside opportunities on work computers.

“Of course employees can explore outside opportunities. What we do worry about is that they do so on the company device,” he said. If an employee fell for a fake interview, he added, “the onus is on us to detect it,” and to “stop the actual execution of that code.”

Related: North Korean hackers create memecoins to launder funds from Binance hack: Elliptic

Binance was already testing employees against fake recruiters. Su said its internal red team had been conducting monthly phishing simulations for three to four years, with remedial training for employees who failed.

“In the beginning, the security hygiene left a lot to be desired. But after this amount of time, the company has improved significantly,” he said.

Kevin Gibson of recruitment firm Proof of Search told Cointelegraph that the threat is also changing how some crypto employers assess prospective hires, with clients increasingly wanting to know whether candidates have been met in person.

“A number of our clients are now asking us straight up whether we’ve met a candidate in person,” Gibson said, adding that candidates personally met by a third-party recruiter have an advantage.

Employees, like in Binance’s case, can also become targets.

“In crypto, a dodgy job offer or a ‘quick catch-up call’ can be the first step in a multimillion-dollar hit,” he said.

Binance blocks a North Korean cyber threat every five days

Binance said it blocked 57 suspected North Korea-linked cyber threats so far this year, which is roughly one attack every five days. 

Following October’s attack, Binance said it had tightened device controls, rebuilt affected wallet systems and internal AI tooling, strengthened access controls and revoked compromised credentials.

It also said it was increasing investment in endpoint protection and developer-environment security, and engaging independent cybersecurity experts to review the incident. Some technical details and security measures would remain confidential, it said.

Magazine: Bitcoin’s ‘best buying opportunity ever’ has arrived: Mark Moss

Bitmine Immersion Technologies reported a $6.3 billion net loss for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, driven largely by falling Ether (ETH) prices.

The company recorded a $6.2 billion unrealized loss on its digital assets, according to the Form 10-K it filed Tuesday. Bitmine posted a $348.6 million net profit the previous fiscal year.

Bitmine reported $15.4 billion in total assets and $33.7 million in liabilities at fiscal year-end. It held 5.9 million Ether worth $14.6 billion. Assets also included $545 million in cash and cash equivalents, 211 Bitcoin (BTC) valued at $16.6 million, $186 million in Beast Industries shares and $77 million in Eightco Holdings shares.

Bitmine’s revenue totaled $124.8 million, above the $119.8 million average analyst estimate listed by Yahoo Finance. Staking and validation accounted for $121.4 million, or 97% of revenue.

Bitmine shares closed 2.8% lower at $18.08 on Tuesday, bringing their year-to-date decline to 33%, according to Yahoo Finance. The company filed the 10-K after the market closed.

Bitmine, the largest corporate Ether holder, said in a Monday update that its holdings grew to 6.07 million ETH, or 4.97% of the supply. It estimated $309 million in annualized rewards on the 5.23 million ETH it had staked.

During a keynote at Token2049 in Singapore on Oct. 7, Bitmine Chairman Tom Lee called 5% of Ether’s supply a “hard cap” for the company’s holdings.

Related: Bitmine buys 28k ETH, completes 97% of treasury accumulation goal

Kraken parent Payward’s xStocks platform added tokenized versions of more than 200 stocks listed in the United Kingdom and European Union. 

Payward said Wednesday that eligible users can trade the new tokens on Kraken and participating xStocks Alliance platforms. The tokens remain unavailable to investors in the UK.

The expansion includes tokenized shares of all 40 companies in Germany’s benchmark DAX index, including SAP, Siemens, Allianz and Deutsche Telekom. According to a separate Wednesday announcement from Deutsche Börse, the tokens are available for trading on its affiliated 360X platform, with 24/7 trading supported on select venues.

Payward said the latest expansion brings xStocks’ offering to more than 1,500 tokenized assets. The company reported more than $45 billion in cumulative transaction volume and over 550,000 unique holders.

According to Payward, the new tokens are backed one-to-one by shares held with a regulated custodian. Kraken’s risk disclosure says xStocks tokens give holders exposure to the shares’ performance without voting rights or legal claims to the underlying stock.

Token Terminal data put xStocks’ market capitalization at $1.1 billion, about 22% of the $4.9 billion in tokenized stocks the firm tracks. xStocks ranked third, behind Binance bStocks at $1.5 billion and Ondo Finance at $1.4 billion.

Payward said it plans to add hundreds of Hong Kong-listed equities in the coming weeks.

Related: Kraken launches xChange engine to power tokenized stock trading