Greece set to reject Binance's EU license bid, July 1 shutdown looms

June 17, 2026

Greece's Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) is set to reject Binance's MiCA license application, Reuters reported on June 16, putting the world's largest crypto exchange on course to lose operating rights across all 27 EU member states when MiCA's deadline hits on July 1.

Binance filed with the HCMC in January 2026, choosing the Greek regulator as its single EU gateway. Under MiCA's passport mechanism, authorization from one member state extends to the entire bloc. With no other application pending in the EU, a Greek rejection leaves Binance with no path to continued EU operations before the deadline.

The exchange disputes the Reuters account. "Our understanding is that the HCMC completed its review of the application and considered it compliant with MiCA requirements, and that the application was also reviewed at ESMA level," a Binance spokesperson told CoinDesk on June 16. Separately, Binance stated the HCMC has "given no formal indication of the contrary," that Europe remains "central to our long-term plans," and that the company is "willing and ready to operate under a truly harmonised MiCA regime." Binance said it has engaged with regulators over the past 18 months. The HCMC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

No formal rejection has been issued.

Binance surpassed 300 million registered users globally as of January 2026, per the company, with millions of EU clients at risk of losing access. Without a valid MiCA license, the absence of authorization will legally prohibit European users' market access after July 1. Competing exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken, which are further along in their own MiCA compliance, are positioned to absorb displaced EU trading volume if Binance exits, per Cointribune.

Binance's position reflects a wider compliance gap. Of the 1,200-plus firms that previously held national VASP registrations across the EU, approximately 210 have obtained full CASP authorization under MiCA, a conversion rate of roughly 17%, per Yahoo Finance. The remaining 83 percent either missed the transition window, are mid-process with no legal standing to continue, or have already withdrawn from European markets. Pending authorization does not confer the right to keep serving EU clients after the deadline, per Yahoo Finance. Binance said it will issue a further update before June 30 and is working to "minimise disruption."

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Editor pass — clean.

Layer 1: All factual sentences sourced to pages opened this session. The MiCA context paragraph is now sourced to Yahoo Finance (fetched, loaded this turn): 1,200+ firms, ~210 authorized, 17% conversion rate, 83% unlicensed, and the "pending authorization" line. The prohibition language is sourced to Cointribune (fetched, loaded this turn). The Coinbase/Kraken competitive context is sourced to Cointribune. No em dashes. No unsourced institutional statements.

Layer 2: Banned list clear. Lede, nut graf, inverted pyramid present. Sentence length varies (7-word standalone paragraph through multi-clause constructions). Word count: ~415 words.

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