Crypto exchange Binance will close customer accounts in France, Spain, Italy and Poland on 31 December 2026. Customers who leave funds on the exchange after 29 November will pay a monthly fee until then.
French users have posted the emails setting out the timetable. Users in Spain, Italy and Poland say they have received the same notice. Binance has not confirmed the contents of the emails.
A Binance spokesperson said “affected accounts will be closed with effect from 31 December 2026” and described the closures as “a carefully managed process”. Deposits are already blocked, but customers can still withdraw both crypto and cash. The spokesperson said users’ assets “remain safe and accessible”, with “no sudden freeze”.
Monthly Fees From 29 November
The emails set a monthly fee of 0.025% of the remaining crypto balance or 10 USDC, whichever is higher. USDC, or USD Coin, is a stablecoin, a cryptocurrency designed to hold its value against the US dollar. Binance will take the fee from a customer’s USDC first and then from other crypto in the account.
The first charge falls within three days of 29 November, and a second follows after 24 December. Where a balance is smaller than the fee, the fee takes the whole balance. Customers who empty their accounts before 29 November will pay nothing.
Binance says it intends to treat any account still holding crypto after 31 December as inactive. The crypto in it could then be converted, transferred or otherwise handled. Binance’s terms of use already allow it to charge a monthly fee on dormant accounts.
A Licence Binance Does Not Hold
The closures follow new European Union rules. Under the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), crypto exchanges need authorisation in one member state to serve customers across the bloc. Binance has not secured that authorisation.
Until 1 July 2026, a MiCA transition period let existing crypto firms keep operating under older national rules while they applied for a licence. After that date, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said firms without authorisation must wind down in an orderly way. ESMA is the EU’s markets regulator. Its expectations include helping customers move their crypto to an authorised firm or to a wallet they control.
Binance ran locally registered businesses in France, Spain, Italy and Poland before the deadline. In June, the exchange urged users in all four countries to withdraw. That month, Binance also withdrew its MiCA application in Greece and said it would apply in another EU country, without naming it.
Binance France had been registered with France’s financial markets regulator since May 2022. The regulator now lists that registration as lapsed on 2 July 2026.
Binance said in June that it was confident of securing a licence in the coming months. “Our commitment to Europe remains unchanged, and we are actively progressing our authorization pathway,” the spokesperson said this week.
Rivals Already Licensed
Other crypto firms have already secured MiCA approval. Spain’s tax agency, working from ESMA’s register, counted more than 185 firms authorised across the EU by April 2026.
Europe is a modest market for Binance by its own account. Co-founder Yi He said in June that Europe was “a small part of our business, but an important one”. In the same month, an analyst at data firm CryptoQuant estimated that trading in euros made up about 1% of Binance’s spot trading volume. Spot trading means buying and selling crypto for immediate delivery.
Binance customers in France, Spain, Italy and Poland can still withdraw their funds. Monthly fees begin at the end of November, and the accounts close when the year ends. Serving those customers again would require Binance to win a MiCA licence in another EU country.
