UPDATED 20:50 UTC, 7 Nov: A Binance spokesperson confirmed to CoinDesk that affected accounts will be closed with effect from 31 Dec 2026 as the exchange progressively restricts services following the end of MiCA’s transition period, and said deposits are blocked but withdrawals of crypto and fiat remain open. Users in Spain, Italy and Poland say they have received similar emails, CoinDesk reported; with France, those are the countries where Binance ran locally registered businesses. Replying to users on X, co-CEO Yi He said that local regulators require the assets to be held by a third-party custodian and that Binance subsidises the custody fee (translated from Chinese by CryptoWatchDesk).
At a glance
- Binance France has emailed customers to say deposits are now closed and all of its accounts will shut on 31 Dec 2026, according to the message as published by Cryptoast.
- From 29 Nov, any balance still on the platform will be charged a monthly fee of 0.025% or 10 USDC, whichever is higher. Users who withdraw all their assets before that date will not be charged.
Binance France is closing all customer accounts at the end of the year after an “orderly cessation” of its activities in France, the exchange said in an email to users reported on 6 Nov by Cryptoast and on 7 Nov by Bitcoin.com News.
“Due to the orderly cessation of activities, your Binance France account will be closed as of 31 December 2026. If you have not withdrawn your crypto-assets by 31 December 2026, this message constitutes notice of our intention to consider your account inactive, in accordance with our Terms of Use,” the email says (translated from French by CryptoWatchDesk).
Under those terms, an inactive account “may” lead to the conversion, transfer or other handling of the assets in it, the message adds.
Fee terms
The first monthly charge will be taken within three days of 29 Nov, which the email calls the “calculation day”, and a second after 24 Dec, both outlets reported. The fee is deducted from USDC balances first, with other crypto used only if there is not enough USDC.
Where a balance is smaller than the fee, Binance France will take the whole remaining balance, the email says. Because of the 10 USDC minimum, any account worth less than about $40,000 would pay the flat amount. Customers can still close their accounts at any time.
How we got here
The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, known as MiCA, requires crypto firms serving EU customers to hold an authorisation; national transition periods ended no later than 1 Jul 2026 under Article 143. Our explainer on what MiCA requires covers the licence.
Binance withdrew its licence application in Greece in June and limited EU services from 1 July, leaving users in France able to withdraw but not trade, Bitcoin.com News reported. Other platforms set their own MiCA deadlines this autumn, including Coinbase’s deadline for EEA users holding USDT.
The notice lands as Binance’s global platform is still restoring services after the $6.3 billion theft it disclosed on 29 Oct. CryptoWatchDesk found no separate public statement from Binance France on its website or X account as of 15:10 UTC on 7 Nov.
Balances still held on 29 Nov will incur the first fee; accounts close on 31 Dec.
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This article is for information only and is not investment advice.