ECB President Christine Lagarde blocked Binance’s EU MiCA license, says WSJ

“We are actively working toward becoming MiCA-authorised and view this as an important step in providing users with a consistent, regulated, and trusted service across the European market,” the spokesperson said.

Binance withdrew its Greek application in mid-June and began winding down operations after officials at the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) decided not to approve Binance’s MiCA license request at the last minute.

Gillian Lynch, Binance’s head of Europe, told CoinDesk in early July that the exchange had met all of the HCMC’s requirements.

“We were deemed to have a complete application,” Lynch said. “Nothing was missing, nothing material was outstanding.”

The WSJ also reported ESMA privately advised national financial regulators to reject Binance’s MiCA applications over concerns with the exchange’s past compliance issues.

Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of Binance, pleaded guilty in the U.S. in 2023 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines. He served a four-month prison sentence in California in 2024 and was pardoned by President Donald Trump in October 2025.

An ECB spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by CoinDesk. The ECB has no institutional role in authorizing crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), they said. That remains the jurisdiction of national competent authorities, in this case, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC).