European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde reportedly stepped in to block Binance from securing an EU wide crypto license via Greece. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Binance had been working closely with Greece’s financial regulator on a license under the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) rules. Greek officials had told Binance its application was complete, and the company was preparing to announce the approval.
Approval was supposed to give Binance a way to operate across the EU. CEO Richard Teng even planned a trip to Athens for a photograph with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. But things shifted after Lagarde allegedly got involved. After that, the exchange pulled its application and started looking for another EU country to launch from.
Binance’s Greek License Plan
Binance wanted a single MiCA license through Greece, which would have let it serve all EU markets. The company had spent months working with Greek officials on its application and got far enough to draft a press release for the expected approval. They had plans for a public launch. Richard Teng was set to travel to Athens, and the exchange was planning a photoshoot with Mitsotakis. The company was preparing for a bigger presence in Europe.
But right before approval, things changed. People familiar with the discussions said a senior official at Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission told Binance that Lagarde had asked Mitsotakis not to approve the license. So Binance withdrew its application before the Greek regulator could formally reject it. Binance said it would pursue authorization in another EU country instead, and repeated that Europe was still a priority.
Crypto influencer Marty Party, posted on X and stated that this intervention stands out because the ECB does not officially approve or reject crypto licenses under MiCA. National regulators make these calls. Lagarde’s alleged involvement was seen as an exercise of political influence, not a formal legal ruling from the ECB.
Why Lagarde Reportedly Opposed Binance
There were several reasons behind Lagarde’s reported position. One was Binance’s regulatory record in the US. The exchange and its founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty to financial crime violations in 2023, paying a $4.3 billion fine as a part of the settlement. Lagarde was also worried about the influence of US dollar based stablecoins in Europe. Reports said she feared that the exchange’s size and reach could strengthen dollar stablecoins in the European market.
This connected with the ECB’s digital euro project, aimed at creating a unified digital payment across the eurozone. Lagarde wanted to promote the digital euro and did not want a major crypto exchange to drive adoption of dollar based stablecoins over euro based options. She also wanted to wait for a potential shift where the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) could take over EU wide crypto licensing decisions from member states. The ECB supports this, seeing it as a way to keep risks out of the banking system.
Still, the accounts rely mostly on people familiar with the matter, not any public ECB decision. Greek officials and the Hellenic Capital Market Commission have not confirmed that Lagarde told them to stop the application, and the HCMC said comments attributed to their officials were not actually made by them.
Binance’s Position and the European Fallout
Binance and Zhao insisted their application was compliant and almost approved. They criticized the process, pointing to what they described as political inference. The exchange said it did not have documented proof of a personal order from Lagarde but said the application faced political pressure.
Missing out on the Greek license was a major setback for the exchange because of the EU’s regulatory timeline. Under MiCA, exchanges need authorization to keep operating after the transition period. Binance missed the deadline and had to stop promoting its services to EU customers in some markets. The company said users could still withdraw their funds out and it would keep seeking authorization elsewhere in the EU, with France mentioned as a candidate.
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