Binance Set to Exit EU as Coinbase Lists Tokenized Stocks, Illinois Taxes Crypto

Crypto News

Decentralized exchange Hyperliquid is attracting contrarian inflows as its HYPE altcoin defies a month of broad weakness across alternative tokens. On prediction platform Polymarket, traders price roughly 80% odds that HYPE reaches $80 before 2027 and about 50% odds it touches $100, with spot changing hands near $73. The conviction rests on tangible demand: three US-listed spot HYPE ETFs drew close to $154 million in net inflows over roughly a month, lifting cumulative volume toward $900 million. The exchange directs the bulk of its trading fees into token buybacks, so heavier activity mechanically tightens supply — a structural bid that helps explain the rally.

Trading app Robinhood is cutting about 10% of its full-time workforce in a restructuring aimed at flattening management layers and accelerating product development. An 8-K filing with the SEC shows the company expects roughly $28 million in charges — $20 million in cash severance and benefits, plus $8 million in stock-based compensation — recognized in the second quarter of 2026. The move follows a sharp slowdown in crypto activity, where first-quarter crypto revenue fell 47% to $134 million and crypto trading volume dropped 48% to $24 billion. Even so, Robinhood continues expanding, having acquired Canada's WonderFi for $180 million to widen its international base.

Illinois has become the first US state to tax crypto transactions directly after Governor J.B. Pritzker signed budget bill SB3019 on June 16. From January 1, 2027, a 0.2% levy will apply to the exchange, transfer, and custody of digital assets, including transfers a user makes between their own accounts. The tax reaches out-of-state brokers earning $100,000 or more from Illinois customers over any twelve-month span, and operating without registration can constitute a Class 3 felony. The Crypto Council for Innovation branded it the most punitive digital-asset tax in the country, arguing equities and derivatives face no comparable state charge.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission opened a request for information on June 16, seeking industry input on rules that may hinder fintech and blockchain firms from accessing American derivatives markets. The inquiry, running for 21 days after Federal Register publication, explicitly asks whether decentralized finance protocols and AMM-based applications fit existing registration and licensing categories. It stems from President Trump's executive order 14405, signed May 19, which directs financial regulators to review supervisory practices that stifle innovation, particularly for smaller firms. The agency cautioned that no concrete rule changes have been decided, though responses could shape future guidance and policy statements.

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, is poised to lose the right to serve European Union customers from July after its licensing bid appears headed for rejection. Under the bloc's MiCA framework, crypto firms must secure authorization by the end of June to keep operating across the 27-nation market via a single passport. The application Binance filed with Greece's Hellenic Capital Market Commission is expected to be denied, leaving the future of its EU users uncertain. The exchange, which counts 300 million customers worldwide, said it had spent 18 months in talks and pledged to support an orderly process minimizing user impact.

Coinbase will roll out tokenized stocks to customers outside the US next month, part of its push to build an everything exchange spanning equities, crypto, derivatives, and prediction markets. The company says the tokens are backed one-to-one by real shares, carry full shareholder rights and dividends, and enable round-the-clock US equity trading. CEO Brian Armstrong stressed these are genuine holdings rather than derivatives or IOUs. Coinbase also unveiled Coinbase Advisor, an SEC-registered AI investment tool that surfaces trading ideas — echoing the wider rise of the AI trading bot — while options trading on crypto and stocks is slated for the coming months.

These developments unfold against a cautious backdrop, with COINOTAG's aggregate data showing the Fear & Greed Index pinned at 22 — deep in extreme fear — even as Bitcoin dominance holds at 69.8% and total crypto market capitalization sits near $1.87 trillion. The common thread is divergence: regulators split between Illinois's punitive tax and Washington's deregulatory CFTC review, while Europe tightens via MiCA. Meanwhile exchanges race to merge traditional and on-chain finance. For investors weighing exposure during this bear market tilt, the elevated dominance reading signals capital concentrating in Bitcoin, leaving altcoins like HYPE dependent on idiosyncratic catalysts rather than a broad risk-on tide.