Overview
- After missing the July 1 MiCA licensing deadline, Binance withdrew its Greek application and has continued to accept some European users by relying on the MiCA rule for reverse solicitation and by routing certain EU trading through a Binance Abu Dhabi entity.
- Reverse solicitation means Binance says customers approached the platform on their own, a narrow exemption that depends on how each account was initiated and does not amount to an EU MiCA authorization.
- ESMA has contacted Binance for confirmation that it is properly winding down unauthorized EU services and national regulators retain the power to impose sanctions if they find non‑compliance.
- Market reaction has been swift: licensed rivals such as Coinbase and OKX offered signup incentives to capture users while reports show about 70% of funds withdrawn from Binance went into self‑custody wallets rather than to other exchanges.
- Binance remains the largest global spot exchange, holding over 45% of spot volume in late August, and it says it is seeking MiCA authorization from another EU member state so it can resume fully licensed EU operations.