Why Europe is struggling to give Binance the MiCA license it needs

An important story is making waves across the blockchain ecosystem. Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece after reported resistance and told users the absence of a formal decision before the transition deadline forced it to seek authorization elsewhere. Reports noted that talks with regulators in Ireland and Latvia had also encountered friction, though Binance maintains that Greece was its only formal application. ESMA has since directed unauthorized crypto-asset service providers to stop onboarding new EU clients and restrict existing services to exit and withdrawal activity.

A crypto-asset service provider license under MiCA is a fitness test administered by a national regulator, who, upon approving the applicant, extends that approval to all 27 EU Member States through passporting. That regulator certifies Binance's management body, qualifying shareholders, AML controls, custody systems, client-asset segregation, internal governance, and group structure as sound enough to operate without borders. Article 62 of MiCA spells out exactly what applicants must document.

Market Dynamics

Article 63 gives national competent authorities explicit grounds to refuse authorization when the management body threatens sound and prudent management, client interests, or market integrity, or poses a serious risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Regulators can also consult AML authorities and financial intelligence units before granting any license. That architecture makes Binance's history the primary licensing evidence that regulators weigh before any authorization decision.

Management body Good repute, competence, sound and prudent management CZ stepped down, but questions remain around influence and governance culture Qualifying shareholders Ownership, control, beneficial-owner risk Zhao remains a major beneficial owner AML/CFT controls Money-laundering and terrorist-financing risk DOJ, FinCEN, and OFAC settlements are directly relevant Custody and client assets Safeguarding, segregation, operational resilience A passported license would apply across the EU Group structure Clear legal entities and supervisory access Belgium previously flagged uncertainty around Binance entities Market integrity Systems to prevent abuse and protect clients Regulators must defend approval to the whole bloc A record that follows In November 2023, the US Department of Justice announced that Binance pleaded guilty and agreed to pay more than $4 billion to resolve violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, money transmission, and sanctions, while Changpeng Zhao separately pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective AML program. Treasury's FinCEN settlement reached $3. 4 billion and OFAC's $968 million, both accompanied by monitorship and compliance undertakings.

A European regulator assessing Binance under MiCA must weigh that record as active evidence. The DOJ and Treasury findings directly address the same controls that MiCA requires regulators to evaluate before authorizing passporting rights: AML systems, sanctions screening, management accountability, and group governance. Binance argues that it has since rebuilt its compliance infrastructure, employing roughly 1,500 compliance staff and having no outstanding MiCA issues.

Market Impact

The regulator's question is whether that rebuild is supported by evidence or merely asserted. Europe's pre-MiCA history with Binance gave regulators in Greece, Ireland, and Latvia a file to consult as the company searched for an authorization route, and before any regulator had to make a bloc-wide licensing call. Binance exited the Netherlands in 2023 after failing to register, following a fine from the Dutch central bank for operating without authorization.

In Germany, the company withdrew its BaFin custody-license application after regulators reportedly made clear they would not grant it. Belgium's FSMA ordered Binance to stop providing virtual-currency services from outside the European Economic Area, noting that Binance had not demonstrated which legal entities were offering services or whether they were properly authorized. The FSMA also pointed to Binance's own terms, which referenced 27 corporate entities, 19 of them outside the EEA.

French prosecutors opened a judicial probe in 2025 into allegations of money laundering and tax fraud, which Binance denied. MiCA consolidates that accumulated record into a single authorization decision that cannot be reversed at the border. A timeline of Binance's European regulatory setbacks from 2022 to 2026, spanning fines, market exits, and a withdrawn MiCA application.

This shift continues to shape the digital-asset landscape, with analysts examining its near-term effects.