According to co-director Richard Teng, Binance is in talks with regulators, which invited the exchange to apply for cryptocurrency licenses following its withdrawal from the application for the Cryptocurrency Markets Regulation (MiCA) in Greece.
At the Reuters NEXT Asia conference in Singapore on Thursday, Teng said discussions were still “premature” and declined to name jurisdiction.
MiCA has created a uniform licensing framework for crypto companies across the European Union. After the bloc’s transition period expired on July 1, the European Securities and Markets Authority said crypto firms must serve EU clients through an entity authorized by MiCA, with constrained exceptions for unsolicited cross-border activity.
Binance withdrew its application for a MiCA license in Greece on June 24, after reports emerged that Greek regulators planned to reject the exchange’s licensing offer.
“It surprised us because we had submitted a fully compliant application. The regulators told us that,” Teng said.
“We are not entirely sure why the approval is still delayed. We withdrew the application because otherwise our users would have a very short transition period,” he added.
Related: The EU’s cryptocurrency rulebook faces an enforcement challenge once the transition to MiCA is completed
EU users withdraw assets for self-care
Teng argued that many European users have opted to self-custody rather than transfer their assets to MiCA-authorized exchanges.
“Of users in the EU [who] they then withdrew their funds from our platform, 70% of these funds went to self-hosted wallets. Only 30% went to MiCA-regulated entities,” Teng said.
He questioned whether MiCA is meeting its consumer protection goals, arguing that self-hosted wallets are subject to less regulatory oversight than licensed exchanges.
According to DefiLlama data verified by Cointelegraph, Binance saw a net outflow of $1.23 billion for the week of June 29, up 207% from about $400 million in the previous week.
The transformation also intensified competition among MiCA-licensed exchanges. OKX said in a statement that app downloads increased 158% between June 24 and July 5, citing Sensor Tower data.
Binance disputes MiCA’s impact
Outside of Europe, Teng said Binance continues to expand its regulatory footprint in Asia, citing its partnership in the Philippines.
“We have now operated in many places in Asia, from Japan to Korea to Thailand, Indonesia and Australia. We just announced in the Philippines. A few more people are coming,” Teng said.
Related: ESMA draws attention to the risks associated with storing cryptocurrencies after the transition to MiCA
Binance re-entered the Philippine market through a partnership with BlockShoals Technologies after regulators decided to restrict access to the exchange in 2024. However, neither Binance nor BlockShoals is licensed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to support peso transfers or other central bank-regulated virtual asset services.
In a June interview with Cointelegraph, BlockShoals chief legal officer Marie Antonette Quiogue said the agreement allows Binance to offer cryptocurrency trading because the activity falls under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission, while central bank-regulated services would require a separate authorization.
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