Binance's Greek MiCA Plot Goes South: License Set for Rejection With EU Deadline Days Away 🏛️

Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange by trading volume, is on track to be denied a Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license by Greece's Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC), according to a June 16 Reuters report citing two people familiar with the matter. The rejection would strip the exchange of its ability to legally serve European Union customers when the bloc's new crypto rules become fully enforceable on July 1.

The exchange applied for a MiCA license through the HCMC in January after establishing a Greek holding company called Binary Greece in December, following more than 18 months of work on the licensing process. Binance's website said the HCMC had completed its review and "considered it compliant with MiCA requirements," pending review at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). A Binance spokesperson told Cointelegraph the company expected ESMA "intended to progress the licence and move to authorise at an upcoming board meeting," while adding the company would update users by June 30. The HCMC declined to comment on the application due to confidentiality rules.

"Binance serves more users in Europe than any other crypto exchange, and any delay or distortion in our MiCA path has consequences beyond Binance," the company said in a blog post. "It risks weakening liquidity, reducing competition and user choice, and pushing activity, jobs, investment, and tax revenue outside the EU." Binance told Decrypt it had "worked constructively with regulators over the past 18 months, including through a comprehensive application process with the HCMC in Greece" and that its priority was "to minimize disruption and keep users informed."

Under MiCA, crypto firms must secure authorization from at least one member-state regulator before they can "passport" services across the bloc. Several large firms, including Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, Circle, eToro, and Revolut, have already secured MiCA-related approvals or regulatory positioning inside the EU. France's financial regulator previously warned that firms might use lighter-touch jurisdictions to gain broader EU market access, and the European Securities and Markets Authority has pushed for more centralized oversight of crypto firms operating under MiCA.

The potential rejection comes as Binance remains the world's largest crypto trading platform by volume, two years after then-CEO Changpeng Zhao stepped down and pleaded guilty to one felony charge in a 2023 agreement in which the company agreed to a $4.3 billion settlement with the US Treasury Department and Department of Justice. The BNB token was down almost 2% amid the development, while Binance said it "remains willing and ready to operate under a truly harmonized MiCA regime" and that Europe remains "central to [its] long-term plans."