CZ says Binance's MiCA bid was blocked by politics, not compliance
Regulation & Gov ·
Binance founder CZ says the exchange's application under the EU's MiCA framework was "fully compliant" and nearing approval before political intervention intervened.
CZ's account, reported by The Block, centers on a Greece-based MiCA license application that he says was close to being granted before it was withdrawn. He has pointed to political forces as the cause of the halt, without detailing which authorities or officials were involved. MiCA is the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regime, under which exchanges seek licensing to operate across the bloc, and an approval would have given Binance a regulatory foothold within the framework.
Part of CZ's account includes unconfirmed speculation that the European Central Bank may have played a role in the intervention, though this has not been substantiated. No EU regulator, the ECB, or Greek authorities have publicly confirmed or disputed CZ's version of events in the material available.
The claim has been repeated across multiple accounts in the same cluster, with each version consistently describing the application as fully compliant and near approval before being blocked by political intervention. Coverage of the episode has also appeared via wublockchain.xyz, adding to the number of outlets relaying CZ's statements. Five distinct sources have covered the cluster, though the accounts largely track the same core assertions from CZ rather than offering independent verification of the compliance review or the reasons for withdrawal.
What remains unresolved is why the application was withdrawn, whether Greek regulators or another EU body made that determination, and what specific role, if any, the ECB played. Binance has not issued a separate detailed statement beyond CZ's comments, and no regulatory body has released documentation on the review's status at the time it was halted. Whether Binance intends to resubmit a MiCA application, in Greece or elsewhere in the EU, is also not addressed in the available material.