Binance France to Shut Every Customer Account by December 31, Report Says

Binance France is winding down. According to Coin Bureau, the exchange will close every French customer account by December 31, forced by the European Union's MiCA licensing rules. Deposits are supposedly already blocked, and users can still pull their funds until the end of the year.

The first hard deadline lands on November 29. Customers who leave crypto behind past that date face a monthly charge of 0.025% of their remaining balance, or 10 USDC, whichever is higher. Coin Bureau added that once accounts close, Binance may convert or transfer any leftover assets under its terms of service, and that customer assets remain reachable throughout the wind-down.

X user Vikram said Spanish, Italian and Polish accounts are also facing permanent closure by New Year's Eve. They told affected users to check their emails and account notifications, withdraw before the applicable deadline, verify the process, and check the regulatory standing of alternative exchanges before moving funds. Vikram noted this is not a full EU shutdown — only certain customers are reportedly hit.

Binance's MiCA path has been messy. The world's largest crypto exchange pulled its license application with Greece's Hellenic Capital Market Commission, saying it would chase authorization in another EU member state, then blew the July 1 deadline. That left rivals like Kraken, Coinbase, Crypto.com and OKX ahead of it. Later reports claimed ECB President Christine Lagarde personally blocked the license, pointing to Binance's US legal history and worries about dollar stablecoin adoption.

Meanwhile, Binance is still climbing out of the $6.3 billion hack it suffered on October 30 — the largest cyber theft in crypto's history. It halted deposits and withdrawals, promised reimbursements through its SAFU fund and own reserves, and has now re-allowed HYPE and APT withdrawals. About 95% of the stolen amount has been covered, but users yanked nearly $4.65 billion in under 10 hours once withdrawals returned, and net flows for the past month sit past -$10.2 billion.