TechFlow News, June 18: According to The Big Whale, citing sources, after Greece rejected Binance’s application, France may now be Binance’s last viable option for maintaining market access in Europe. Binance is currently in discussions with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF), though it has not yet formally submitted an application.
The report cites sources stating that Greek regulators previously deemed Binance’s application complete and compliant with the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), but the application was ultimately rejected—potentially due to political considerations rather than regulatory shortcomings. Sources further indicated that European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde directly conveyed to the Greek Prime Minister that Binance is “unwelcome” in Europe; this view subsequently influenced the Greek Finance Minister and the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC).
The underlying rationale behind such high-level sentiment may relate to stablecoins. As one of the primary liquidity providers in Europe’s stablecoin market, excluding Binance could weaken stablecoin trading liquidity and, to some extent, create more favorable conditions for the future rollout of the digital euro.
Additionally, the report notes that the French Ministry of Finance and the anti-money laundering agency Tracfin favor bringing Binance under the French regulatory framework to maintain regulatory visibility over the platform’s fund flows.
