CEO OKX Star Xu refuted CZ on social platforms, arguing that Binance had failed to take the MiCA licence plate and should not be packaged as “European loss”. He focused on compliance, regulation and public expression, saying that the outside world should ask more about what had been lost by European users.
For its part, Binance stated that its MiCA application in Greece, which had been “full compliance” and was close to approval, was subsequently blocked by “other forces”. Binance has withdrawn the application and plans to move to another EU member State to continue to seek authorization.
The EU license window is tight.
The MiCA transition period will expire on 1 July. Thereafter, unauthorized encryption companies will not be able to continue to provide part of their services to EU users unless they have been approved by the regulatory bodies of member States.
Currently, EU regulators have approved 244 MiCA plates. Germany received the largest number of authorizations, reaching 57. Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania have still not issued any licence plates.
Exchanges are accelerating competition for European users
Star Xu also stated that more exchanges were providing services to EEA users through licensed EU entities. He also mentioned that if the reports that Binance was still serving most EEA users through offshore entities were true, this would allow the outside world to continue questioning its regulatory practices.
Conbase, Kraken and OkX have launched activities for European users at a time when the competition for licence plates is rising. OKX provides a maximum of 8 per cent for encrypted transfers and cash deposit incentives for eligible users, with a maximum of 20,000 euros, distributed in 52 weeks. Coinbase introduced a 5 per cent transfer incentive and Kraken launched a Euro1 million draw.