Binance Faces Scrutiny from EU Regulators over Continued Services

The world's largest digital-asset trading venue, Binance, is facing scrutiny from European Union regulators over its continued provision of services to customers within the bloc. According to the Financial Times, Binance did not obtain authorization under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) in the summer, as required.

Under MiCA, firms lacking authorization were supposed to wind down their EU activities and assist customers with moving or liquidating their crypto assets by July 1. However, Binance is relying on the reverse solicitation exemption, which allows non-EU companies to provide services to customers within the bloc if those customers approach the service on their own initiative.

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has stated that the reverse solicitation exemption should be interpreted narrowly and should not be used to bypass MiCA obligations. The Dutch market regulator AFM has taken a stronger stance, saying that crypto asset service providers cannot simply invoke reverse solicitation without meeting specific requirements and guidelines.

Binance's local authorizations in countries such as France, Spain, and Poland expired under MiCA, and clients in other EU states are handled by its Abu Dhabi entity, which has been supervised since December 2025. However, the experience for European users on the platform has remained unchanged since the MiCA deadline of July 1.