Melker Bengtsson
TL;DR
- ECB President Christine Lagarde personally intervened to stop Binance's application for an EU crypto license, the Wall Street Journal has reported
- Lagarde reportedly raised two issues with Greece's prime minister: Binance's money laundering case, and that Binance would undercut the digital euro
- Anonymous sources have been saying this since June, but this is the first major financial publisher reporting it
- Binance is now trying again to get a license, this time through France
ECB President Christine Lagarde personally intervened to stop Binance’s application for an EU crypto license, the Wall Street Journal has reported. Lagarde, the former IMF chief and French finance minister, reportedly reached out to the Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Anonymous sources have been saying this happened since it first happened, in June, but this is the first major financial publisher reporting it.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, is now trying again to get a license, this time through France.
What the WSJ Reported
Since July 1st this year, crypto companies need a license to operate in the EU, because of MiCA, the European Union's crypto regulation framework. Binance started their application with the Hellenic Capital Market Commission, the Greek securities regulator in January. In early June, Greek authorities told the European Securities and Markets Authority that they intended to grant the company the license.
Everything was set, Binance had a European launch prepared and Richard Teng, Binance co-CEO, even had a flight booked to Athens.
However, even though the ECB does not have any jurisdiction over MiCA licensing, they then reached out to Mitsotakis. Lagarde reportedly raised two issues. First, the money laundering case, to which Binance and CZ himself pleaded guilty. Second, that the sheer size of Binance would push USD-backed stablecoins in a way that would undercut the digital euro. The digital euro has been in development since 2021.
Rumours Started in June
Reuters was the first major publisher to reveal that the Binance application was set to be rejected, on June 16th. Something a Binance spokesperson disputed, saying:
Our understanding is that the HCMC completed its review of the application and considered it compliant with MiCA requirements, and that the application was also reviewed at ESMA level.
The next day, June 17th, the Lagarde claim was first reported by The Block journalist Gareth Jenkinson on X:
I am reliably informed that ECB president Christine Lagarde directly ordered Greece to reject Binance’s MiCA license application.
— Gareth Jenkinson (@gazza_jenks) June 17, 2026
My source said Binance had essentially been given the green light by Greece’s regulator, before the ECB stepped in.
Not good news for crypto if the… https://t.co/sLpBaoxx0L
On June 24th, Binance withdrew their application:
We have taken the prudent decision to move forward in a way that gives users more clarity and allows us to continue pursuing a compliant, long-term path in Europe.
When the MiCA grandfathering period ended on July 1st, Binance suspended core services in the European Union.
The ECB Has Never Liked Crypto
The ECB has consistently been against cryptocurrencies. Christine Lagarde said in May 2022:
My very humble assessment is that it is worth nothing, it is based on nothing, there is no underlying asset to act as an anchor of safety.
And in November of 2022, after FTX’s collapse, an ECB blog post called Bitcoin’s price stabilization “an artificially induced last gasp before the road to irrelevance.” In 2024, the blog published a post saying Bitcoin's fair value was zero. ECB blog posts are said to be personal views of the authors, but the central bank promoted both posts on their social media.
Since 2025, Bitcoin is no longer in the ECB’s crosshairs: stablecoins are the new target, which they consider a threat to financial stability. This aligns with the anonymous source’s report of Lagarde’s motive for blocking Binance. Lagarde said in May this year:
The case for promoting euro-denominated stablecoins is far weaker than it appears.
Will the ECB Intervene Again?
It turns out that, even though the European Union said MiCA would be a single rulebook for the entire industry, they’re actively sidestepping that rulebook for one player specifically. Binance was going to get an EU license but was stopped by an entity that has no formal say on who gets one.
As Binance is now pursuing a license in France, it’s unclear whether the position of the ECB and Lagarde has changed or whether they’re going to intervene yet again.
