Greek Firms Join EU MiCA Register as NEAR Intents Blocks $50M Tied to Bitget Hack

Four Greek crypto firms — BCash, Xenios Blockchain Group, Capital Wallet Greece, and Piraeus Bank — have been added to the European Securities and Markets Authority's (ESMA) Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) register, making them the first providers from Greece to receive authorization under the EU's comprehensive crypto regulatory framework. The update, published Thursday, also added six firms from Germany, France, and Slovenia, bringing the total number of unique authorized providers to 359 across the bloc. Notably, Binance had sought Greek authorization to leverage MiCA's passporting system for EU-wide operations but withdrew its application on June 24, before the Hellenic Capital Market Commission could rule. The Wall Street Journal later reported that European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde intervened to block the application, a claim the HCMC has since publicly denied.

Meanwhile, fallout from Bitget's massive security breach intensified as NEAR Intents revealed it blocked more than $50 million in attempted transfers linked to the attackers. The exploit on Thursday drained approximately $387.5 million from the exchange, with a significant portion funneled across chains to Ethereum. Alex Shevchenko, general manager of NEAR Intents, said the protocol's SHIELD system detected and intercepted the suspicious transactions, ultimately freezing $503,000 in stolen funds while roughly $166,000 passed through. NEAR Intents has redirected the remainder to other providers for further tracing.

The incident has reignited debate over the responsibilities of permissionless blockchain protocols, as THORChain faced community pressure to blacklist addresses tied to the Bitget attack. In a separate regulatory development, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued new guidance clarifying when certain crypto assets and activities may fall outside federal securities laws, potentially offering relief to projects navigating compliance in the United States. Together, these developments underscore the growing intersection of crypto regulation, cross-chain security, and enforcement across global jurisdictions.