Binance's bid for a Markets in Crypto-Assets licence in Greece has unravelled, leaving the exchange without a passportable authorisation across the European Union and its services restricted since 1 July 2026. The exchange withdrew its application in mid-June, before the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) had reached a formal decision.
The Wall Street Journal reported on 17-18 September 2026 that European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde may have asked Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis not to approve Binance's licence. The ECB has no institutional role in granting licences to crypto-asset service providers under MiCA; that responsibility rests exclusively with national regulators. HCMC has denied that its officials made the statements attributed to them in the report.
A licence that seemed secured
As late as May 2026, Binance believed European approval was imminent. The company had a lease ready in Athens and Binance chief executive Richard Teng had planned a visit to the Greek prime minister. Binance issued a statement describing the expected approval as a "major milestone".
In early June, HCMC informed the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) of its intention to approve Binance's licence. A few days later, according to the Journal's report, an HCMC vice-president reportedly reversed her position, indicating the file was no longer moving forward. Binance withdrew its application shortly afterward.
Two reasons have been floated for the ECB's alleged opposition: Binance's 2023 guilty plea in the United States, and broader concern within the central bank over the exchange's influence in the region. The ECB has separately supported a proposal, put forward in April, to transfer CASP licensing decisions from national regulators to ESMA.
Market fallout and next steps
Since 1 July, Binance's European operations have been restricted because the exchange lacks a licence passportable across the bloc's 27 member states. Coinbase and Kraken, both already MiCA-licensed, have been identified as the immediate beneficiaries, picking up users left without a domestic platform.
Binance is reportedly now looking toward France. Binance France has held a DASP registration since May 2022, a transitional status that has allowed it to keep operating locally while its file is reviewed, though no formal MiCA application has yet been filed with French authorities.
The episode raises questions about the boundaries between monetary authority and licensing decisions within the EU's crypto framework, at a moment when Brussels is already debating whether such decisions should sit with national regulators or be centralised at ESMA.
