Binance CEO Says 70% of EU User Outflows Went to Self-Hosted Wallets, Casting Doubt on MiCA

About 70% of assets withdrawn by European users from Binance after the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation took effect were moved to self-hosted wallets rather than regulated exchanges.

Richard Teng, Binance's chief executive officer, told the Reuters NEXT Asia conference on July 9 that roughly 70% of assets withdrawn by European users after the exchange halted services in the EU went to self-hosted wallets, while only about 30% moved to exchanges with MiCA licenses, according to Crypto Briefing.

Binance withdrew its MiCA license application in Greece on June 24. After the MiCA transition period ended on July 1, the exchange could no longer provide services normally in the EU, leaving European users to transfer their assets elsewhere.

Binance recorded about $1.23 billion of net outflows in the week starting June 29. That was a 207% increase from the previous week, reflecting fund movements driven by regulatory changes rather than market volatility or a security incident.

Teng said the shift in funds could produce an outcome at odds with MiCA's consumer-protection goal. Users are moving from regulated exchanges to self-hosted wallets, where oversight is more limited, potentially weakening the regulation's effect.

Teng also said regulators in several EU member states had approached Binance about applying for local licenses. The exchange plans to focus on expanding in Asia rather than Europe.