Binance co-CEO Richard Teng said the exchange is discussing with regulators in “premature” talks about applying for crypto licenses after it pulled back its MiCA application in Greece. Speaking at the Reuters NEXT Asia conference in Singapore on Thursday, Teng did not name the jurisdictions involved, adding that the dialogue is still at an early stage.
The comments come after Binance’s regulatory pivot inside the EU. MiCA—the European Union’s single, harmonized crypto licensing regime—became fully applicable after the bloc’s transition period ended on July 1. As a result, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said crypto firms must serve EU clients through a MiCA-authorized entity, with limited exceptions for unsolicited cross-border business.
Key takeaways
- Binance is in early discussions with regulators about obtaining crypto licenses, Teng said, without identifying the countries.
- Binance withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece on June 24, citing concerns about how quickly EU users would face a shortened transition period.
- Teng argued that EU users increasingly moved funds to self-custody rather than to MiCA-authorized platforms, questioning MiCA’s consumer-protection impact.
- Competition among licensed exchanges has intensified following the transition end, according to statements citing app download growth.
- Binance says it continues expanding in Asia through partnerships, including in the Philippines, while noting the regulatory landscape there is split between different agencies.
Binance seeks a new licensing path after Greece withdrawal
Binance’s Greek setback followed reports that Greek regulators intended to reject its MiCA licensing bid. According to earlier coverage by Cointelegraph, Binance withdrew its Greece MiCA application on June 24. Teng said at Reuters NEXT Asia that the situation took the company by surprise even though it submitted what it believed to be a fully compliant application.
“It caught us by surprise because we submitted a fully compliant application. The regulators told us as much,” Teng said, adding that the company was “not quite sure” why the approval process continued to be delayed. He said Binance withdrew the application to avoid a scenario where users would be forced into an extremely short transition window.
Separately, ESMA’s guidance after the MiCA transition ended emphasized that EU-facing services should route through a MiCA-authorized entity, with only narrow carve-outs for unsolicited cross-border activity. That framework is intended to bring crypto firms under a consistent EU rulebook, replacing a patchwork of national regimes.
Self-custody dominates outflows, Teng says
At the conference, Teng argued that the post-transition reality in Europe has not played out in the way MiCA’s consumer-protection goals might suggest. He pointed to user behavior after MiCA requirements took effect, saying that users who withdrew assets from Binance overwhelmingly chose self-custody.
According to Teng, “Of the users in the EU [who] have subsequently withdrawn their funds out of our platform, 70% of those funds went to self-hosted wallets. Only 30% flowed to MiCA-regulated entities.” Teng suggested that this outcome reduces the level of oversight available to consumers, since self-hosted wallets are not subject to the same licensing and operational constraints as regulated exchange platforms.
Cointelegraph also reported that Binance recorded net outflows of $1.23 billion during the week beginning June 29, which it noted was up 207% from roughly $400 million the prior week, referencing DefiLlama data reviewed by Cointelegraph.
The key tension in the exchange’s argument is straightforward: even if MiCA strengthens licensing standards for intermediaries, it may not reduce the volume of users holding assets in unhosted environments. That matters for investor protection because wallet custody shifts risk from licensed venues to end users, including risks around backups, access control, and security hygiene.
MiCA transition end reshapes competition among licensed exchanges
Another theme from Teng’s remarks was how quickly the competitive map can change once MiCA becomes enforceable. He referenced ongoing market dynamics inside the EU, while also highlighting that licensed exchanges are vying for the attention of users and liquidity that move once a major platform changes its regulatory stance.
OKX, for example, said its app downloads rose 158% between June 24 and July 5, citing Sensor Tower data. While download metrics do not directly translate into regulated trading volume, they can indicate faster user inflows during periods when compliance-driven changes affect how and where EU clients can access services.
For traders and allocators, this kind of shift can influence both execution quality and on-platform liquidity. But it also raises practical questions: whether users consolidate into a smaller set of MiCA-authorized venues, and how quickly those venues can absorb order flow compared with the speed at which users move out of non-compliant pathways.
Binance continues Asia expansion amid different regulators
Beyond Europe, Teng said Binance is working to expand its regulatory footprint across Asia. He cited deployments in multiple jurisdictions, naming Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, and announcing the Philippines as a recent addition.
Binance re-entered the Philippine market through a partnership with BlockShoals Technologies after regulators moved to restrict access to the exchange in 2024. The relationship, however, sits within a regulatory split: neither Binance nor BlockShoals is licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to handle peso transfers or other central bank-regulated virtual asset services.
Earlier reporting from Cointelegraph included an interview with BlockShoals’ head of legal, Marie Antonette Quiogue, who said the arrangement allows Binance to offer crypto trading because the trading activity is under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission. Services regulated by the central bank, she indicated, would require separate authorization.
That distinction underscores a recurring challenge for global exchanges: “one license” approaches can work poorly when oversight is divided across regulators with different scopes. It also means that compliance strategies often need to be tailored to the exact product—trading, custody, transfers, or other regulated functions—rather than treated as a single, uniform permission.
As Binance explores further licensing talks after its Greece withdrawal, investors and users will want to watch how the EU situation evolves: whether Binance can secure an authorization pathway for EU clients, whether more withdrawals keep flowing toward self-custody, and how quickly MiCA-licensed competitors can translate user interest into sustained liquidity.
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