CZ Says Binance Was Days From MiCA Approval Before Politics Hit

Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao said two EU states fought to host the exchange's MiCA bid, which neared approval before opposing forces triggered last week's withdrawal.

CZ Recounts Greek License Fight

Zhao said the exchange quietly pulled its Greek filing just days before the bloc's deadline. A single national approval under MiCA grants passporting rights, so one license would let Binance serve all 27 EU markets at once, which made Greece a prize worth winning. Two member states actively pursued the application, he said, turning a routine approval into a contest.

He likened the contest to a bidding war between the two governments before rival forces lined up against the bid and the company finally retreated. CZ called the outcome a lose-lose for Binance and Europe.

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Lagarde Speculation Clouds Withdrawal

Speculation has tied the rejection to Christine Lagarde, the European Central Bank president, after an anonymous source claimed she leaned on Greek officials to refuse the license at the final stage. The show's host echoed that account. Zhao would not confirm or deny it, saying he had seen the same claims circulating online yet could point to no documents verified by either side.

Binance applied through Greece's regulator in January, spending roughly 18 months on a bid it insists the watchdog reviewed and judged compliant before the process stalled near the finish. Co-CEO Richard Teng pledged a license within months.

Binance's Long Regulatory Road

Euro-denominated pairs make up only about 1% of Binance's global spot volume, yet Europe remains a flagship market the company, with more than 300 million registered users worldwide, is loath to surrender. The exchange held close to 18.5% of euro spot trading this year, trailing only Kraken, which already cleared MiCA in Ireland to win its EU passport. Dozens of smaller rivals won approval too.

The Jul. 1 deadline lands this week. Once it passes, unlicensed firms must stop serving clients across the bloc, a hard cutoff Binance now races to dodge through a fresh application in another member state.

Reports first flagged the likely rejection on Jun. 16, with Greek, Irish and Latvian regulators pointing to the firm's old legal penalties, sprawling structure and what they called a risk-taking culture. In 2023, Binance pleaded guilty in the US to money-laundering and sanctions violations and paid $4.3 billion, after which Zhao stepped down as chief executive. He later served four months in prison.

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