Binance's Greek MiCA Bid Draws Questions About ECB Influence

Binance’s faltering Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) license application in Greece has prompted questions about whether the European Central Bank may have played an informal role, even though MiCA assigns approval of crypto-asset service provider (CASP) licenses to national competent authorities.

In Greece that authority is the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC). "Nothing in the MiCA framework would prevent a third party like the ECB from offering its opinion to that national authority on Binance's application," David Lesperance, founder at Lesperance & Associates, said.

Reports in recent days said ECB President Christine Lagarde signaled to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that Binance was not welcome in Europe, and Reuters reported the HCMC was set to reject the application. Those accounts surfaced less than two weeks before the end of MiCA's transitional period on July 1, the deadline that will determine which crypto firms can continue operating across the EU under the new licensing regime.

Greece

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