Binance disclosed that the company had formally withdrawn its MiCA licence application to the Greek Capital Market Commission and would seek authorization in another EU Member State. Only a few days remain until the EU MiCA regulatory node, and this adjustment leaves its short-term compliance arrangements in Europe to be clarified.
Relocation of other Member States by 1 July
The company indicated that it had been in communication with the Greek regulatory body for the past months, but had not received a response by the deadline of 1 July, and had therefore decided to move the new application path forward. As required by the MiCA, a platform for the provision of encryption services in compliance with the EU needs to have the relevant licence plates by the deadline, or face possible disruption of regional operations.
Binance stated that it would then apply for authorization through another EU Member State that had not yet been published and would take the necessary measures to meet the applicable regulatory requirements by 1 July.
Some EU users may be affected
According to the company, after the withdrawal of the application, some users may be affected, but the user's funds are “safe and secure”. Binance indicated that all EU users were being contacted to indicate whether there was a need for operations, options, associated timing and support channels.
At present, Binance has not disclosed which countries or product lines will be affected or when new applications will be published. As a result, uncertainty remains as to how they operate in the EU market in the short term.
Granted to cover the entire EU
Under the MiCA mechanism, once approved by the Platform in one of the EU member States, the mandate can normally be extended to other member States to operate. Binance also indicated that Europe remained an important market and that companies continued to wish to operate under a unified and clear MiCA framework.
However, there are not no differences within the European Union around the “licensed pass” mechanism. The report mentioned that the French regulator had objected last year to the practice of allowing some of the more liberal jurisdictions to enter other markets once they had been granted, arguing that it might prevent some of them from entering the French market.
Additional information:Binance submitted an application to Greece in January this year. Just a week before the withdrawal, Reuters had reported that the application might have been rejected by the Greek regulator.