💸 Lagarde vs. Binance: a license too consequential to grant

MiCA gives bloc-wide operating rights to any exchange approved by a single EU national regulator. Binance picked Greece, met every requirement by its own account — and got rejected at the last minute anyway.

The Wall Street Journal reports the real obstacle was Christine Lagarde herself. Her concern: Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, would accelerate dollar-based stablecoins across the eurozone, undermining the ECB's digital euro project. The ECB holds no formal role in crypto licensing — yet here we are.

Binance withdrew its Greek application in June and says it will try elsewhere in the bloc. Full paperwork, zero missing items, still a no. Regulation is always a little bit politics.

CoinDesk