Most European users of Binance who withdrew assets after the exchange operator failed to secure an EU operating licence have moved funds to self-custody wallets rather than regulated rival platforms, according to co-CEO Richard Teng.
Binance's Teng Says EU Users Prefer Self-Custody After Failed Attempt for MiCA Licence
11 July 2026 - 18:58 CEST
By Matt Neill
About 70% of withdrawn EU user assets went to self-hosted wallets, while 30% moved to other platforms licensed under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, Teng said at the Reuters NEXT Asia event in Singapore on Thursday. The flows followed Binance's suspension of most EU services after its Greek licence application failed to clear before the deadline passed at the start of July.
The split has become an early test of MiCA's practical impact. The EU framework was designed to bring crypto activity into a single regulated market, with licensed firms subject to rules on governance, custody, capital and anti-money-laundering (AML) controls. Binance's figures suggest some users responded by moving assets outside centralized platforms altogether.
MiCA test deepens
Self-custody wallets let users hold their own private keys rather than rely on an exchange. Supporters see that as a core feature of crypto ownership, especially after past exchange failures exposed counterparty risks.
The pattern is more complicated from a regulatory perspective. Licensed exchanges run know-your-customer (KYC) checks, monitor suspicious activity and hold customer assets under supervised frameworks. Self-hosted wallets do not operate under the same gatekeeping model.
Teng argued in the interview that moving assets away from licensed platforms could reduce visibility for supervisors and weaken the consumer-protection goals of MiCA. Questions for the EU include whether strict licensing will concentrate activity on compliant platforms, or push some users towards channels that are harder to monitor.
Binance seeks new route
Teng declined in the Singapore conference session to identify any new European jurisdictions his firm is targeting. Meanwhile, his recent setback has created openings for licensed competitors, including the likes of Coinbase, Kraken, OKX and Bitvavo. Several secured MiCA approvals before the deadline.
