Crypto exchanges 10.06: SEKAU live, Bitcoin below 61,000

Wednesday 10 June 2026 brought two events of opposite sign to the Baltic and Nordic crypto sector: in the market, Bitcoin slipped below the USD 61,000 mark, recording its lowest opening price since October 2024, while on the infrastructure side Frankfurt-based AllUnity launched SEKAU - the first regulated Swedish krona stablecoin. Meanwhile the MiCA countdown has reached 20 days, and competition among the region's exchanges keeps intensifying.

Market: Bitcoin slides below USD 61,000

Wednesday's trading marked a fresh wave of pressure. Bitcoin opened the day at USD 61,672, down 2.3 percent from Tuesday's open, and slid to roughly USD 60,940 in the US morning hours. Setting aside last weekend's brief plunge, this is Bitcoin's lowest opening price since October 2024. Ethereum opened at USD 1,638, 3.1 percent lower than the day before, and traded around the USD 1,615 mark in the morning.

The sources of pressure remain unchanged: substantial outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, investor attention concentrating on artificial intelligence investments, and the escalation of Middle East tensions, which keeps inflation worries alive. The next major milestone is the US Federal Reserve meeting on 17-18 June, whose outcome will largely set the tone for risk assets in midsummer.

SEKAU: the first krona stablecoin has arrived

The most significant infrastructure event in the region is the launch of the Swedish krona stablecoin SEKAU. Frankfurt-based AllUnity, a joint venture of DWS, Flow Traders and Galaxy Digital holding a German BaFin e-money institution licence, has released SEKAU as its third regulated stablecoin after the euro-denominated EURAU and the Swiss franc CHFAU. The coin is fully backed one-to-one by krona reserves and issued as a MiCA-regulated e-money token, giving holders a statutory right to redeem it at par value.

AllUnity chief executive Alexander Höptner has indicated that another five to six new currencies are planned by autumn. For the Swedish market, SEKAU adds a new competitive dimension: local exchanges and brokers, including Safello and soon Firi, gain a regulated krona settlement instrument that was previously unavailable.

Qivalis: Nordic banks join the euro stablecoin

Alongside private issuers, the banking sector's initiative is growing too. Membership of Qivalis, the regulated euro stablecoin project, has more than tripled to 37 banks, and all Nordic countries except Norway are now represented. This signals that Europe's banking sector is preparing to compete with US dollar stablecoins on its own terms, with Nordic banks taking an active role in the process.

MiCA: 20 days to the end of the transition period

Twenty days remain until the end of the MiCA transition period on 30 June. The overall European picture is largely unchanged: roughly 210 operators have obtained a full crypto-asset service provider (CASP) licence, while more than 1,200 firms operated in the bloc under national registrations before MiCA - a conversion rate still below 18 percent. ESMA has repeatedly stressed that operators without a licence must be ready by 1 July to execute immediately actionable wind-down plans that shield clients from losses.

The Baltic picture was unchanged on Wednesday: Latvijas Banka has issued four CASP licences, the most recent granted to Neverless in late May, while Estonia's Finantsinspektsioon has still not issued a single full MiCA licence. In Lithuania, where the national transition period ended on 1 January, the Bank of Lithuania continues preparing technical blocking measures against unlicensed operators.

Nordics: cross-border expansion continues

The competitive map of the region's exchanges keeps getting denser. Finland's Coinmotion has opened its regulated platform to Swedish customers and is exploring the Norwegian market, while Sweden's Safello, the first Swedish crypto company to receive a full CASP licence, has begun operating in Finland and is simultaneously refocusing on institutional clients. Norway's Firi, after receiving its licence from Finanstilsynet, is preparing to enter Sweden, which will become its third market. The MiCA passporting principle, which lets a single licence cover the entire European Economic Area, is turning this cross-border movement into the new normal - and that is the biggest difference from the pre-regulation era.

What to watch in the coming days

Three things stay in focus: the weekly updates of ESMA's interim CASP register, possible licensing announcements from the region's regulators ahead of the 30 June deadline, and SEKAU's first volume figures, which will reveal the real demand for a krona stablecoin. Investors using Baltic or Nordic crypto exchanges are still advised to verify their operator's MiCA licence status in the ESMA register or the national regulator's list before the deadline arrives.

Sources

• Yahoo Finance - Bitcoin and ethereum prices today, June 10, 2026: BTC, ETH open lower and falling further
• Kaupr - The battle for the crypto market in the Nordic region intensifies
• Kaupr - MiCA in the Nordics and Baltics: Who Has a Crypto Licence?
• CoinDesk - Germany's AllUnity to launch Swedish krona stablecoin
• The Block - AllUnity plans Swedish krona stablecoin, launches agentic payments infrastructure

This article was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence. The content was reviewed and edited by Toms Ābeltiņš. This article does not constitute investment advice.