Binance’s regulatory problems in Europe began months before EU officials started questioning how the exchange continues to serve customers in the bloc. The exchange chose Greece as its route to an EU-wide license under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, with co-CEO Richard Teng saying in February that the country offered advantages, including its workforce and security profile.
That plan fell apart in June. Reuters reported that Greece’s Hellenic Capital Market Commission was preparing to reject Binance’s application, prompting the exchange to withdraw it on June 24 and say it would seek authorization in another EU member state. The timing left Binance facing a July 1 deadline, when MiCA’s transition period ended, and unlicensed firms were expected to wind down their EU operations.
Binance did not fully wind down its services, prompting EU officials to question its reliance on reverse solicitation, Reuters reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The legal provision can allow a non-EU firm to serve an EU customer when that customer independently approaches the company, without the firm marketing or soliciting its services in the bloc.
EU regulators are questioning Binance over its use of a legal exemption to keep serving EU customers despite an order to wind down after failing to secure a license, per FT. https://t.co/arxX68FLMc
— mracrypto (@MRACRYPTO_) October 1, 2026
EU regulators have been policing reverse solicitation for years
Reverse solicitation has a documented history of abuse, and EU regulators built their defence against it years before Binance’s case ever came up.
The exemption isn’t new to crypto, it comes from MiFID II, the EU’s securities law, and ESMA caught firms misusing it right after Brexit. In January 2021, once the UK’s transition period ended, ESMA flagged what it called “questionable practices”: firms using generic contract clauses or online pop-up “I agree” boxes to make it look like a client had initiated contact on their own, when in reality the firm had done the soliciting first. ESMA’s guidance was blunt on this point, a disclaimer claiming a service was the client’s own idea doesn’t count if the firm solicited, advertised or promoted its services in the EU through any channel, including a third party acting on its behalf.
That history directly shaped how ESMA approached crypto. In February 2025, more than a year before Binance’s current standoff began, ESMA issued formal guidelines on reverse solicitation specifically under MiCA, explicitly built so firms couldn’t lean on standard disclaimers or boilerplate clauses to claim client-initiated contact.
The guidelines went further, stating that any marketing or promotional activity targeting EU clients, even through an affiliated party, disqualifies a firm from the exemption entirely. In other words, when ESMA told the FT this week that reverse solicitation should be treated as “the exception,” it wasn’t inventing a new standard on the fly, it was applying a rulebook it had already written specifically because the same shortcut had been abused once before, in a different crisis, by different firms, years earlier.
Binance is also facing regulatory pressure beyond Greece
Aside from the dispute over its Greek license application, Binance has also explored other routes to obtain a MiCA license in the European Union. Reuters reported that the exchange held talks with regulators in Ireland and Latvia but faced resistance in both countries. Neither regulator has publicly confirmed the discussions, leaving the details largely buried in broader coverage of Binance’s licensing efforts.
French authorities have also been investigating allegations of money laundering involving the exchange since 2024, which Binance has disputed. In the UK, about 1,700 investors have filed a legal claim seeking at least £150 million, alleging that Binance offered leveraged crypto derivatives to retail customers without the required approval. Binance disputes the claims.
These cases are unfolding alongside the exchange’s efforts to secure authorization in Europe, adding to the regulatory challenges it faces across several jurisdictions.
Binance executives have consistently defended its regulatory position
Binance executives have publicly pushed back against the regulatory setbacks in Europe. Co-CEO Richard Teng said the exchange remains committed to obtaining a MiCA license and argued that regulatory uncertainty should not be mistaken for Binance leaving Europe.
To our European users: we understand regulatory uncertainty can be frustrating.
We remain committed to securing a MiCA licence in the coming months, while providing clarity, minimising disruption, and keeping users informed directly.
Your funds remain safe and secure. For questions, please reach out to Customer Support.
— Richard Teng (@_RichardTeng) June 24, 2026
He has also said the company is spending more than $300 million a year on compliance and has more than 1,500 employees working on regulatory oversight and financial crime prevention.
Founder Changpeng Zhao has been more direct about the failed Greek application. In June, Zhao said Binance’s MiCA application was fully compliant and close to approval before what he described as “political forces” intervened. He said the exchange had explored other EU routes after the Greek application was withdrawn.
Teng later said Binance was still in discussions with European regulators and was pursuing authorization in another EU member state after withdrawing its Greek application.
The latest dispute, however, puts Binance in a different position. EU officials are now questioning whether the exchange can rely on the reverse-solicitation exemption to continue serving European customers without a MiCA license. Binance’s current public response is that it complies with applicable rules and is actively working toward MiCA authorization.
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