OpenPayd, a London-based financial infrastructure provider focused on stablecoin rails, says it has obtained authorization under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The approval enables the firm to provide crypto services across the European Economic Area (EEA) through passporting, expanding its ability to operate under a unified EU framework.

In announcing the authorization, OpenPayd said its status as a crypto asset service provider (CASP) allows it to support fiat-to-stablecoin on-ramping and off-ramping. The company framed MiCA as a milestone that should increase confidence for businesses looking to use digital asset technology for payments, treasury workflows, and growth initiatives.

Key takeaways

• OpenPayd received MiCA authorization from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), allowing EEA-wide service delivery via passporting.
• The CASP authorization covers use cases such as fiat-to-stablecoin on- and off-ramping.
• OpenPayd said it serves more than 1,100 businesses globally and processes annualized transaction volume exceeding $240 billion.
• The news arrives shortly before the July 1 MiCA transitional deadline, when firms increasingly need formal authorization to continue operating.
• OpenPayd is also pursuing a potential US public listing tied to a proposed Nasdaq merger deal.

MiCA authorization and what it allows OpenPayd to do

OpenPayd’s new authorization positions it as a CASP under MiCA. According to the company’s statement seen by Cointelegraph, the license supports services aimed at connecting traditional fiat payments with stablecoin settlement—specifically fiat-to-stablecoin on-ramping and off-ramping.

OpenPayd’s leadership linked the approval to broader adoption of stablecoins within financial infrastructure. CEO Iana Dimitrova said stablecoins are becoming part of mainstream financial plumbing, and that MiCA provides businesses with more confidence to integrate digital asset technology into payments and treasury operations.

The authorization was issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), an OpenPayd spokesperson told Cointelegraph.

Why the timing matters: MiCA’s July 1 transitional deadline

OpenPayd’s license comes just days ahead of July 1, a transitional deadline under MiCA that has accelerated efforts by crypto firms across Europe to secure formal authorization. The closer the deadline approaches, the more business continuity planning depends on receiving regulatory clearance rather than relying solely on transitional arrangements.

Cointelegraph reports that activity is already ramping up across jurisdictions. For instance, Bitcoin Suisse secured a MiCAR (MiCA-adjacent) license in Liechtenstein on Tuesday, while Ripple announced preliminary CASP approval in Luxembourg. OpenPayd’s MFSA authorization fits into this wider push for EU compliance as companies prepare for what becomes increasingly a “real license” environment across the bloc.

OpenPayd’s operating footprint and customer base

This new MiCA status follows about a year after OpenPayd launched stablecoin infrastructure designed to help businesses manage both fiat currencies and digital assets from a single platform. The company says it processes more than $240 billion in annualized transaction volume and supports over 1,100 businesses worldwide.

OpenPayd also highlighted existing relationships, listing clients including Kraken, eToro, OKX, and B2C2. For investors and counterparties, these details matter because MiCA authorization is not only a compliance milestone—it can also reduce operational friction for regulated providers that want stablecoin rails that meet EU standards.

OpenPayd’s broader MiCA positioning also places it in the growing set of firms already moving through EU licensing routes. The authorization follows examples of other market participants that have publicly described receiving MiCA approvals, including OKX and Gemini (information referenced in the original reporting), signaling that the compliance landscape is becoming more crowded—and more competitive—across Europe.

Link to OpenPayd’s Nasdaq listing plan

Regulatory progress is arriving while OpenPayd pursues a potential public listing in the United States. Earlier in June, the company announced a proposed merger with a special purpose acquisition company, Titan Acquisition Corp, which OpenPayd said would target a Nasdaq listing. Under the plan, the shares would trade under the ticker “OP,” subject to approval.

OpenPayd has said the transaction values the firm at about $1.1 billion and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, with completion dependent on shareholder and regulatory approvals. While MiCA licensing mainly affects OpenPayd’s European operating permissions, the company’s listing strategy points to how compliance traction may be used to support fundraising and broader market access.

What to watch next

With July 1 approaching, the next key signals will be whether more providers secure MiCA authorizations before the deadline and how quickly firms convert those approvals into expanded product rollouts. For market participants relying on stablecoin on- and off-ramping, OpenPayd’s MFSA clearance underscores the direction of travel: regulation is becoming a gating factor for cross-border crypto services inside the EEA.

The squeeze comes from both directions. As Strategy issued more STRC to fund bitcoin purchases, its annual dividend obligations ballooned from about $300 million at the start of 2026 to $1.2 billion now, a near fourfold jump in under six months.

CryptoQuant noted the reserve needed to reach about $2.8 billion, or 24 months of coverage, for STRC to recover. As such, Strategy reported a $1.1 billion reserve in mid-June.

So its bitcoin offers less of a backstop than its size suggests.

“The company sits on a $10.6 billion unrealized loss, with all Bitcoin purchased in 2024, 2025, and 2026 underwater,” CryptoQuant said. “Any forced BTC sale at current prices would crystallize large losses and destroy shareholder value.”

A forced sale is unlikely soon, though. Strategy is not required to sell bitcoin to defend STRC and can instead raise the dividend or sell new shares to signal it can keep paying, tools it is already using.

CryptoQuant’s prescription is for Strategy to pause its bitcoin buying and rebuild the reserve first, then adopt a systematic approach to timing purchases rather than buying whenever it raises capital.

Strategy cannot simply switch the payments off to save cash. STRC’s dividends are cumulative, meaning any skipped payment still has to be made up later, and CryptoQuant said the company is unlikely to suspend them anyway because doing so would damage its credibility with the preferred holders it needs.

The report is a sharper read than the one Benchmark-StoneX offered on Tuesday.

A wave of selling in the technology sector that emerged earlier this week has weighed on European equities. The trigger was investor concern over the profitability of large-scale debt-funded investments by major US tech companies in AI infrastructure. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell to their lowest levels in more than a week, with semiconductor manufacturers bearing the brunt of the decline.

In Germany, Infineon Technologies (-5.86%), Siemens Energy (-3.93%) and Vonovia (-3.21%) were among the worst performers, while SAP and Airbus ended the session in positive territory, gaining around 2% each. Geopolitical factors also remain in the background: a memorandum signed in June between the United States and Iran has yet to remove uncertainty, with implementation of the agreement still subject to ongoing negotiations.

Technical picture

On the H4 chart of the DAX 40 index (GDAXIm on FXOpen), after peaking around 25,450 at the end of May, price declined towards the 23,970 area, forming a downward trend structure. Following an attempted breakout of the downtrend and a gap on 15 June, the index moved into a sideways range, forming a POC zone at 24,940–24,950 and an upper boundary of the current profile at 25,070, with price now trading between these levels.

The nearest resistance is located around 25,210, which could cap the market if the upper boundary of the profile is breached. Support is seen in the 23,970 area, which could be reached if the lower boundary at 24,460 is broken. Volume remains moderate, confirming the consolidation phase. The RSI and moving averages are at 48, 54 and 54 respectively; the oscillator is below its moving averages, while the averages are converging towards neutral levels, indicating a lack of clear momentum within the current range.

Summary

Pressure on the DAX 40 is driven by a global reassessment of AI infrastructure valuations, which has triggered a sell-off in the semiconductor sector worldwide, including German equities. Price has returned to a balance area after the rebound, while the RSI remaining below its moving averages signals a lack of directional momentum on either side.

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Quick Overview

• Meta is building “Arena,” a forecasting platform enabling users to predict outcomes using points rather than actual currency.
• The platform will encompass political events, sporting matches, cultural happenings, and global news, functioning as a standalone product separate from Instagram and Facebook.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg has designated Arena as a high-level internal initiative, despite its experimental classification.
• The company previously launched and discontinued a comparable service named Forecast between 2020 and 2022.
• While prediction markets continue expanding rapidly, they’re encountering heightened regulatory oversight concerning gaming regulations and potential market manipulation.

Meta, the organization behind Facebook, is constructing a mobile application named Arena designed as a forecasting platform. The service will enable participants to predict results of actual events spanning electoral contests, athletic competitions, and cultural phenomena. The New York Times reported details from two informed employees, noting the application will employ a points mechanism instead of monetary transactions.

Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally directed Arena’s creation, according to sources. The New York Times’ contacts characterized the initiative as simultaneously experimental and strategically significant for the corporation.

Arena will operate as an independent entity distinct from Meta’s current portfolio, which includes Facebook and Instagram. This standalone approach differs from Meta’s typical strategy of incorporating new capabilities into established platforms.

Meta Platforms, Inc., META

A Second Attempt at Forecasting

This represents Meta’s second venture into prediction platforms. In 2020, the company introduced Forecast, allowing participants to make predictions about current affairs and developments during the Covid-19 outbreak. The service was discontinued in 2022.

Meta has previously explored cryptocurrency and financial technology initiatives. The company unveiled Libra, a digital currency project, in 2019, which became Diem before being abandoned in 2022. Recently, Meta introduced USDC payment options for content creators in Colombia and the Philippines.

Should Arena launch successfully, it would enter direct competition with established platforms including Polymarket and Kalshi, both experiencing substantial growth. Polymarket attracted significant attention throughout the 2024 presidential election cycle, processing billions in transaction volume. With Meta recording 3.56 billion daily active participants across its ecosystem by March 2026, Arena could access an enormous existing user base.

Additional major technology companies have entered the forecasting sector. Coinbase and Kraken have investigated opportunities in this market, while Robinhood has launched event contracts connected to political developments and economic indicators.

Regulatory Challenges Intensify

The forecasting platform sector faces mounting legal challenges across the United States. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission continues disputes with state-level authorities regarding whether specific event contracts constitute illegal gambling activities.

Congress is evaluating proposed legislation addressing insider trading concerns on forecasting platforms. These efforts intensified following allegations against U.S. soldier Gannon Ken Van Dyke, who reportedly earned over $400,000 through a Polymarket position related to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s potential capture. Van Dyke’s trial is scheduled for December 2026.

Meta hasn’t announced a definitive launch timeline for Arena, nor has the company dismissed the possibility of incorporating real-money wagering features in the future.

SecondFi, a Cardano ecosystem wallet project, said it has traced a recent security incident to its native Cardano web wallet generation software. 

The team said it had contained the issue and paused affected services while it reviewed the full scope.

“We have isolated the root cause of the recent security incident,” said SecondFi in a security update. “The issue was confined to our native Cardano web wallet generation software.”

SecondFi said its on-chain review put the preliminary scale at around 16 million ADA. The team also said it was working with a blockchain security firm on an independent technical review.

SlowMist founder sees larger loss risk

SlowMist founder Cos, also known as Yu Xian, said the damage could be far larger than SecondFi’s early figure. He said the estimate depends on whether two Cardano addresses he tracked are confirmed as attacker wallets.

“The users of this wallet have likely lost over $20 million,” said SlowMist founder Cos in an X post. He said the possible loss may involve more than 129 million ADA and other tokens.

Cos later said the transaction pattern suggested an attacker may have obtained a batch of mnemonic phrases or private keys before moving funds over many hours. He said the transfers appeared to move from larger amounts to smaller ones.

Users wait for final review

SecondFi has not yet released a final technical report or a detailed compensation plan. The project said it would continue to share updates as the independent review confirms the scope and cause.

The case has drawn attention because the issue involves wallet generation, not only a smart contract or front-end error. If key generation fails, wallets created through the affected software may face direct risk.

SecondFi is the successor to Yoroi and was launched by EMURGO as a self-custody neofinance app for spending, trading, earning and saving. Cardano’s official app catalog lists SecondFi as a self-custody platform built by EMURGO.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Cardano has already faced market and ecosystem pressure this month. ADA fell below $0.20 in June, while several Cardano projects and governance fights drew wider attention. At press time, ADA traded at around $0.15, down almost 3% in the past 24 hours.

Security concerns spread beyond Cardano

The SecondFi case adds to a wider run of crypto wallet and platform security issues. In a recent update, crypto.news covered Trezor Safe 7 after Ledger Donjon found a chip flaw, though Trezor said user funds remained safe.

Previously, crypto.news explored Bo Shen’s reopened $42 million wallet hack case. SlowMist had linked that theft to a compromised mnemonic seed phrase, showing how seed phrase exposure can leave lasting recovery problems.

SecondFi users now need to follow only official project channels and avoid support scams. Breach events often trigger fake recovery accounts that ask for seed phrases, private keys or transfers.

The final loss figure remains unconfirmed. For now, SecondFi’s public estimate stands near 16 million ADA, while SlowMist’s Cos says suspected hacker activity could push possible user losses above $20 million.