Coinbase opened its Luxembourg office on June 24, naming the country its European Union hub under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Binance, by contrast, just withdrew its license bid in Greece.
The contrast shows how regulatory track records increasingly decide who keeps EU access before the deadline on July 1. Early movers gain a 27-state passport, while latecomers risk losing the bloc.
Coinbase Locks In Its Luxembourg Base
Coinbase won its MiCA license from Luxembourg’s Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier in June 2025. That came more than a year before the deadline.
The company already held national licenses in six EU countries, including Germany and France. It has also traded publicly on Nasdaq since 2021, giving regulators years of audited disclosures.
The single license covers more than 450 million people across the EU. Coinbase Luxembourg S.A. now sits on ESMA’s register, joining the firms approved under MiCA across the bloc.
Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad opened the office alongside Luxembourg Finance Minister Gilles Roth.
“Luxembourg has established itself as the EU’s leading hub for institutional crypto and tokenization,” he said in a post.
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Binance Faces a MiCA Reckoning
Binance took the opposite path this week. The exchange confirmed its Greek license bid had collapsed, leaving it absent from ESMA’s register.
Regulators have long weighed Binance’s record. In 2023, it pleaded guilty in the United States to money-laundering and sanctions violations.
Binance paid more than $4.3 billion, one of the largest corporate penalties in US history. Founder Changpeng Zhao pleaded guilty and resigned as chief executive.
It now plans to seek approval in another EU member state. Binance says it meets MiCA standards and points to roughly 1,500 compliance staff.
“Binance is not leaving Europe,” Gillian Lynch, Binance’s head of Europe and UK, told Reuters.
What Comes Next
With days left before the deadline, more than 230 firms have cleared MiCA and can keep serving EU users. Coinbase and rivals including Kraken sit on ESMA’s list.
Binance does not. Its return now hinges on convincing another regulator that its compliance matches its size.
