Binance Pledges to Stay in Europe After Failing Greek License Bid

Binances fight to maintain access to the European Union continues after its attempt to secure a MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) licence through Greece failed. Despite the setback, Binance says it has no intention of leaving Europe and is actively looking for other regulatory routes.

Last week, the company‘s MiCA license application in Greece fell apart, raising questions about whether it can keep serving EU customers after June 30. Under the EU’s MiCA rules, crypto companies need approval from one EU country to operate across all 27. Without that license, companies are expected to stop offering regulated services in the EU.

Gillian Lynch, who heads Binance‘s European and UK operations, told Reuters: “Binance is not leaving Europe.” She added that the exchange is looking at other options if Greece is no longer viable. Reportedly, Binance has had discussions with regulators in Ireland, Latvia, and Greece, but all of them raised concerns about Binance’s track record and its corporate structure.

Related: Binance at Risk of Losing EU Access as Greece Rejects MiCA Licence

One of the main concerns is AML (anti-money laundering), considering that in 2023, founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao pleaded guilty to AML violations as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the US authorities. Reuters sources say regulators are still looking at Zhaos influence, even though he stepped down from executive management. Lynch insists that CZ is absolutely no longer involved in daily operations and has been removed from the company.

Binance in Europe

While the exchange never disclosed the number of users in the EU, it does have over 300 million globally, and some of them are bound to be from the EU.

Interestingly, Binances app has been downloaded more than 4 million times across the European Union in 2025. The majority of those users came from France, Spain, and Germany. As such, losing access to the EU would be a notable setback for Binance.

As it currently stands, if Binance doesnt get a license by the deadline, it may have to scale back some EU operations while trying to get approval elsewhere. Regulators have made it clear that any business without a license is expected to have a plan ready to close down its operations in a structured way.