Binance to stop providing services to EU clients after failing to obtain licence - Financial Times

Binance to stop providing services to EU clients after failing to obtain licence

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Binance to stop providing services to EU clients after failing to obtain licence

World’s biggest crypto exchange tells customers how to withdraw their money as MiCA rules set to come into force

!A stack of gold-colored coins and a coin with a circuit-like design are shown in front of a blurred Binance logo.

*Binance’s application in Greece for a bloc-wide licence was rejected last week, less than a fortnight before the deadline comes into force

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Nikou Asgari and Martin Arnold in London

Published6 hours ago

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Binance has told its customers in the EU that it will stop providing services to them from next week because it will not be licensed to operate in the region, in a significant setback for the world’s biggest crypto exchange.

From July 1, all crypto companies operating in the EU must hold a licence under the bloc’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation or risk being penalised.

Binance’s application in Greece for a bloc-wide licence was rejected last week, less than a fortnight before the deadline comes into force, and the exchange now plans to apply through France, where it has previously been in talks about a licence, according to people familiar with its thinking.

However, even if approved, any licence is likely to come well after the July 1 deadline and in the meantime the exchange is not allowed to serve EU customers.

Binance customers in Poland, Italy, Spain and France — where the company currently holds local licences — have received emails this week telling them how to withdraw their money from the exchange because the company “will not be granted a MiCA licence by 30 June 2026”.

Binance said the company did not receive a formal decision on its application in Greece and so “took the prudent decision to withdraw the Greek application and pursue authorisation in another EU member state.

“Europe remains an important market for Binance, and our commitment to a clear, fair and harmonised MiCA framework is unchanged. We are confident we will secure a MiCA licence in the coming months and will announce the relevant member state when ready,” it said.

“Some users may be impacted before July 1, and we are communicating directly with affected users — we are not telling users to withdraw their funds by July 1. User assets remain safe and secure,” it added.

France’s AMF declined to comment. Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission declined to comment.

The failure to get EU approval marks a major setback for the crypto exchange, which has sought t