The absolute denial
The official position of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission is categorical and leaves no room for misinterpretation, essentially refuting any current institutional backlog. The supervisory authority clarifies: "There is no pending application for the licensing of Binance or an affiliated company of its group at the Hellenic Capital Market Commission today." At the same time, the Commission underscores that Binance is not registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in the relevant Registry maintained in Greece. This detail is of crucial importance, as, as the authority explains, the regulations concerning the transition period of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) have no application in the case of Binance in Greece. With the transition period expiring on July 1, 2026, based also on the recent Statement by ESMA (April 17, 2026), Binance appears regulatorily outside the framework of transitional facilities for the Greek market, with the Commission referring interested parties to public announcements. It should be noted that, according to information, Binance has also withdrawn the file it had submitted to the Bank of Greece for a payment institution operating license.
Binance: "We submitted a complete application 11 months ago"
At the other end of the spectrum, the Binance side presents a different reality, speaking of a process that has lasted almost a year and for which there was complete consensus with the authorities. The exchange claims that it has submitted a complete and fully compliant application, which had been under thorough review by the Hellenic Capital Market Commission for the past 11 months. The company goes a step further, leaving clear insinuations of a retreat or reversal of facts. As it states, there was close cooperation during the process, with the Hellenic Capital Market Commission agreeing that the application was in compliance. In fact, Binance declares that it was under the impression that the review had been successfully completed, having also passed through the level of the European Securities and Markets Authority(ESMA), and that the Greek Commission had informed ESMA of its intention to proceed with the approval of the license at an upcoming meeting of its Board of Directors. It is noted that the stakes are high on an economic level as well, as Binance's intention was to create 100 high-paying jobs in Greece, contributing at least 200 million euros to the Greek economy.
Nikos Bartzeliotis
nicholasbargeliotes@gmail.com
www.bankingnews.gr
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