Binance withdrew its MiCA application in Greece after reported resistance, saying a formal decision before the transition deadline was unavailable, so it sought authorization elsewhere. Reports also suggested friction in Ireland and Latvia. ESMA has told unauthorized crypto-asset service providers to stop onboarding new EU clients and limit activity to exits and withdrawals. MiCA licensing is a national-regulator “fitness test” that, if approved, grants passporting across all 27 EU states. Regulators must assess management, shareholders, AML controls, custody, segregation of client assets, governance, and group structure, and can refuse authorization for risks to prudence, client interests, market integrity, or AML/terrorist-financing concerns. Binance’s past enforcement record is central to that assessment: in 2023 it pleaded guilty in the US and agreed to multi-billion-dollar settlements over AML, sanctions, and money-transmission violations, while Zhao pleaded guilty to failing to maintain an effective AML program. EU regulators also have Binance’s earlier exits, fines, and probes in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France as evidence. The key issue is whether any EU regulator will accept Binance’s claimed compliance rebuild and take responsibility for bloc-wide passporting.