Binance halts crypto trading in France after MiCA license setback

Binance’s EU-wide MiCA licensing efforts in France fall short. As a result, the exchange has currently paused all services in France, including crypto trading, and is only allowing users to withdraw their assets. 

French users can now only withdraw their crypto assets, while spot trading, margin trading, and other trading-related services have been disabled.

Binance has assured customers that their funds remain safe and accessible despite the restrictions. The exchange previously served around 2 million users in France, making the country one of its largest European markets.

Under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, all crypto companies operating in the bloc must obtain a license or face regulatory penalties. Weeks before the July 1 deadline, the exchange applied for a MiCA license from France’s financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). However, the regulator has failed to secure it, just days after it was also denied a license in Greece. 

Binance shut down its services in several European countries

In its official announcement, the exchange has assured French users that their crypto assets remain protected. It also suggested moving funds to a regulated platform or a personal wallet if they plan to continue using them.

Some users pulled their crypto before the July 1 deadline, but some held out for updates. At the moment, withdrawals are still allowed, but users must transfer their funds to another platform to trade.

Binance has had to halt its services in other European countries, including Poland, Italy, and Spain. Similarly, it advised users to withdraw their holdings. 

However, Binance’s halt opened the door for compliant rivals, prompting platforms such as Coinbase and OKX to win over its customer base before the MiCA cutoff. Coinbase launched campaigns across key European nations, including the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, and Sweden, as OKX simultaneously marketed incentives to eligible customers within the European Economic Area.

At the same time, many crypto companies are setting their sights on Dubai, given that fewer than 244 of 3,000 firms have secured MiCA licenses in the EU bloc. 

Binance, nonetheless, remains committed to securing approval in the bloc. It remarked, “Europe remains an important market for Binance, and our commitment to a clear, fair, and harmonized MiCA framework is unchanged. We are confident we will secure a MiCA license in the coming months and will announce the relevant member state when ready.” 

Binance has been embroiled in lawsuits and probes

For the past few years, Binance has been at the center of multiple controversies. The platform admitted guilt in 2023 to U.S. charges of breaking sanctions and anti-money-laundering rules, which prosecutors argued had turned the company into a worldwide laundering tool for bad actors. Authorities fined the company $4.3 billion, while Binance founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to a related charge and served 4 months in a California prison. He was pardoned by President Trump last November. 

This year, U.S. Justice and Treasury officials have also been probing how Iran utilized Binance to skirt sanctions. According to a Wall Street Journal report, billions of dollars in crypto transactions passed through the platform over the past two years to bankroll networks supporting Iran. Binance, however, has since pushed back against the claims, stating that it has zero tolerance for illegal activity and has built a top-tier compliance system. It has even taken legal action against the Journal for its reporting.

Meanwhile, over the past month, investors pulled more than $1.6 billion out of Binance. This included a single week where withdrawals hit $1.23 billion as users moved funds to private wallets, driving Ethereum outflows to a three-year high of 166,000 transactions.

Despite this, the exchange still oversees roughly $114 billion in digital assets. Besides, the exchange has now included the Philippines in its fray. “The Philippines has always been one of the most vibrant crypto communities in the world. Let’s go!” said Binance co-CEO Richard Teng.