Today in Crypto: Belgian bank KBC will roll out Bitcoin and Ether trading to retail customers in February, market sentiment has dropped amid unease over delays to a US crypto bill, which Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong says could return to markup within weeks.
KBC Bank to launch Bitcoin and Ether trading in Belgium under MiCA
KBC, one of Belgium’s largest banks, is set to roll out Bitcoin and Ether trading to retail investors next month via its own custodial solution and investment platform.
From Feb. 16, KBC customers will be able to buy and sell crypto assets through the online investment platform Bolero, the bank announced Thursday.
“This will enable self-directed investors in Belgium to invest in cryptocurrencies within a secure and fully regulated environment, a first in Belgium,” KBC said.
Launched in compliance with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), KBC’s crypto trading will operate on the bank’s proprietary custodial architecture, the announcement said.
KBC said it would be the first Belgian bank to meet MiCA requirements. The company has submitted a full crypto asset service provider (CASP) notification to the competent authority, the National Bank of Belgium (NBB), a spokesperson at KBC told Cointelegraph.
“KBC is an authorized CASP, as it has received approval from the Belgian supervisory authorities to offer crypto services,” the bank’s representative noted, adding: “We comply with all legal obligations, including the reporting of crypto‑assets to the competent authorities.”
KBC initially announced plans to offer Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) trading via Bolero in July 2025, pending regulatory approval that was expected by the end of the year.
Crypto sentiment drops amid market structure bill unease
The market sentiment-tracking Crypto Fear & Greed Index dropped on Friday after hitting a multi-month high, as the crypto industry in the US is divided over a Senate version of a highly-awaited crypto market structure bill.
The index slid by 12 points on Friday to a “neutral” score of 49 out of 100, dropping from its score of 61, indicating “greed” on Thursday, its highest score recorded since it hit 64 out of 100 on Oct. 10, the same day the crypto market massively crashed and saw $19 billion in liquidations.
Crypto sentiment platform Santiment said on Thursday that Bitcoin’s (BTC) 5% gain that day to $97,870 “appeared more than justified based on continued smart money accumulation, and retail traders dumping.”
However, crypto sentiment has wavered as several executives aired concerns about crypto market structure legislation, a markup of which was due to be marked up on Thursday before being cancelled by the US Senate.
Coinbase CEO expects market structure bill markup “in a few weeks”
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has weighed in on the future of a cryptocurrency market structure bill under consideration in the US Senate less than 24 hours after he said the exchange could not support the current version of the legislation.
In a Thursday CNBC interview in the US Capitol building, Armstrong spoke after posting on X Wednesday that Coinbase was pulling its support for the CLARITY Act, a bill to establish digital asset market structure. Members of the US Senate Banking Committee had been scheduled for a markup of the bill on Thursday, which was postponed following Armstrong’s post.
“We developed this concern that if [the bill] went into a markup, the only way to edit some of that base text would have been through an amendment, and amendments had already been submitted,” said the Coinbase CEO. “And so we didn’t think it was prudent to come out of committee with a bunch of these issues in the bill which would have been catastrophic for the average American consumer.”
Armstrong added:
“I think we’ve got a chance to do a new draft, and hopefully get into a markup in a few weeks.”
Republican lawmakers in control of the US House of Representatives and Senate initially expected the CLARITY Act to be signed into law by 2026.
However, many industry leaders, banks and experts have expressed concerns about provisions of the bill dealing with decentralized finance, interest on payment stablecoins and how the legislation would delegate regulation between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
“Inaction is unacceptable,” Cody Carbone, CEO of crypto advocacy organization The Digital Chamber, told Cointelegraph on advancement of the CLARITY Act. “We cannot afford to walk away from the table at a moment when clarity is within reach. Market structure must move forward, and the only path to longstanding policy is getting back to the negotiating table and finishing the job.”
Senator Tim Scott, who chairs the Banking Committee, said on Wednesday that the markup postponement was a “brief pause” and there were “good faith” bipartisan discussions continuing to happen. Members of the Senate are scheduled for a state work period next week, likely pushing any potential markup to at least the end of January.
