The world’s largest crypto trading space will now make a new effort to get permission to do business in the European Union, a senior executive told Reuters in an interview published Wednesday (June 24).
“Binance is not leaving Europe,” said Gillian Lynch, head of Europe and the United Kingdom, following Binance’s failure to obtain a license in Greece that would have permitted it to offer services like crypto trading.
“We may just have a different pathway to being authorized,” Lynch added. “If it is not Greece, I’m looking at other alternatives.”
The Reuters report notes that these comments could put Binance on a collision course with European regulators. The company has a week to land a license before its permission to do business in Europe expires, which would mean shuttering its EU operations.
Two sources with knowledge of the company’s efforts told Reuters Binance had held discussions with regulators in Greece, Ireland and Latvia but saw resistance in each place.
These sources said regulators were worried about the company’s past penalties for money laundering, its complicated international structure and what they perceived as a culture of risk-taking, the report added.
Lynch told Reuters Binance did not know why it had been denied approval and had previously thought the Greek regulator planned to grant a license.
Asked about Binance’s past legal and regulatory issues, Lynch said Binance had invested in compliance and internal controls — which includes a compliance staff of around 1,500 people — and had no outstanding issues tied to its application.
Under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), cryptocurrency companies that do not have a license by the end of June will not be permitted to continue operating in the bloc.
As covered here earlier this month, this could impact thousands of crypto companies. A report in mid-June by CryptoSlate said there 194 crypto firms were licensed under MiCA as of May, but 3,000 registered crypto firms across the EU.
PYMNTS explored MiCA’s impact on the digital asset landscape in a report last week, noting that for much of crypto’s history, it was complexity that provided a barrier to adoption.
“If MiCA succeeds, consumers and businesses will not necessarily care whether a payment moves across a card network, a bank rail or a blockchain. They will care that it is fast, inexpensive, secure and protected. The long-term consequence may be that blockchain itself becomes less visible,” that report said.
